Isurava
After the fighting withdrawal from Deniki on 13 August 1942, the 39th Battalion consolidated its position at Isurava located higher up in the mountains on a ridge with the deep Eora Creek to the east and dense jungle slopes to the west.
After the fighting withdrawal from Deniki on 13 August 1942, the 39th Battalion consolidated its position at Isurava located higher up in the mountains on a ridge with the deep Eora Creek to the east and dense jungle slopes to the west.
Station 14 – The vital delaying battle
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After the fighting withdrawal from Deniki on 13 August 1942, the 39th Battalion consolidated its position at Isurava located higher up in the mountains on a ridge with the deep Eora Creek to the east and dense jungle slopes to the west.
Lieutenant Colonel Ralph Honner took command on 16 August, and for several days there were only minor patrol skirmishes, while the Japanese gathered their strength for a major offensive. On 19 August Brigadier Selwyn Porter arrived in the forward area to command Maroubra Force, which included the 53rd Battalion holding the rear position at Alola.
On 23 August Brigadier Arnold Potts, the Commander of the 21st Brigade, assumed command from Porter. Brigadier Potts decided that his 2/14th Battalion would relieve the exhausted 39th Battalion. Lieutenant Colonel Arthur Key and Lieutenant Colonel Honner realising the seriousness of the situation suggested to Brigadier Potts, the commanding officer of the 2/14th Battalion, that the 39th Battalion should remain, to which he agreed. On 26 August the Japanese began their offensive which was engaged and held up by the patrols forward of Isurava and across Eora Creek to the right. The leading elements of the 2/14th Battalion began to arrive at Isurava on the evening of 26 August.
The next day the Japanese mounted major and sustained attacks against the Isurava position which continued throughout the next day. By this time Lieutenant Colonel Key had taken command of the position as his battalion took the brunt of the Japanese attacks. On 29 August the position became even more desperate and Japanese advances were thrown back by determined counter-attacks. In one of these attacks, Corporal Lindsay Bear killed 15 of the enemy until he was wounded, then handing his Bren gun to Private Kingsbury who carried the attack forward, restoring the position; he was killed and his award of the Victoria Cross was posthumous. Corporal Bear was also recommended for the Victoria Cross but was awarded the Military Medal
Corporal Charles McCallum accounted for 40 Japanese, using both Bren and Tommy guns, and was also recommended for the Victoria Cross but received the Distinguished Conduct Medal.
September 1942: Some members of D Company, 39th Battalion, returning to their base camp after a battle at Isurava. Right to left: Warrant Officer 2 R. Marsh, Private (Pte) G. Palmer, Pte J. Manol, Pte J. Tonkins, Pte Arnold William Forrester and Gallipoli veteran Staff Sergeant J. Long. Their shoes sink deep in the mud on the hilly jungle track. This image is one that is etched onto the Walkway's Centrepiece. (AWM 013288)
Isurava: Close up shot of the men’s feet in the mud. These conditions not only slowed down a march, but left the men with constantly wet feet and equipment. (AWM 013290)
The 2/14th Battalion on the way to Isurava and immortality - many of these young officers and their men died in the savage fighting few days later. From left to right: Lieutenant Moore, Lieutenant Harold 'Butch' Bissett, Captain Claude Nye, Lieutenant Mason, Captain Treacy. Only Lieut. Mason survived the campaign, but he too was wounded. This is another photograph from the collection of the Salvation Army Chaplain Albert E. Moore. (AWM P00525.056.001)
A studio portrait of Private Bruce Steel Kingsbury VC, taken in 1940 before his departure to the Middle East in the 2/14th Battalion. See below for the citation when he was posthumously awarded the VC. The KTMW commemorates his actions with the Private Bruce Kingsbury VC Memorial Garden (adjacent to the Ralph Honner Kokoda Education Centre), and the Private Bruce Kingsbury VC Path which links the Memorial Rose Garden to the Walkway. (AWM P01637.001)
April 1944: VX125001 Signalman R. Williams tending the grave of the late Private Bruce Steel Kingsbury VC, 2/14th Infantry Battalion, at the Kokoda War Cemetery. After the war, Kingsbury's grave, together with those of all other known Australians buried along the Kokoda Track were transferred to the Bomana War Cemetery in Port Moresby. Bomana is the largest war cemetery in the Pacific, and contains 3779 graves: 3069 known and 237 unknown Australians from the fighting in New Guinea together with 443 Allied soldiers sailors and airmen. (AWM 072431)
In New Guinea, the Battalion to which Private Kingsbury belonged had been holding a position in the Isurava area for two days against continuous and fierce enemy attacks.On 29th August, 1942, the enemy attacked in such force that they succeeded in breaking through the Battalion’s right flank, creating serious threats both to the rest of the Battalion and to its Headquarters.
To avoid the situation becoming more desperate it was essential to regain immediately lost ground on the right flank. Private Kingsbury, who was one of the few survivors of a Platoon which had been overrun and severely cut about by the enemy, immediately volunteered to join a different platoon which had been ordered to counter- attack. He rushed forward firing the Bren gun from his hip through terrific machine-gun fire and succeeded in clearing a path through the enemy. Continuing to sweep enemy positions with his fire and inflicting an extremely high number of casualties on them, Private Kingsbury was then seen to fall to the ground shot dead by the bullet from a sniper hiding in the wood.
Private Kingsbury displayed a complete disregard for his own safety. His initiative and superb courage made possible the recapture of a position which undoubtedly saved Battalion Headquarters, as well as causing heavy casualties amongst the enemy. His coolness, determination and devotion to duty in the face of great odds was an inspiration to his comrades.
London Gazette: 9th February 1943.
Private Bruce Steel Kingsbury VC
2/14th Australian Infantry Battalion, A.I.F
29th August 1942, Isurava, Papua (Posthumous Award for the Victoria Cross)