EDWARD ‘TED’ KENNA

Australian troops stand proudly in front of the national flag, Ted Kenna pictured second from the left. Aussie troops played a vital role in the Pacific theatre

Edward ‘Ted’ Kenna learned to shoot by hunting rabbits in Hamilton in rural Victoria, Australia, during the Great Depression. His father had worked on the railways and as Kenna later recalled, “their wages wasn’t so hot”, and so anything extra (both in terms of pelts and meat on the table for the family of nine) helped. His skills would stand him in great stead when it came to his experiences in World War II. 15 May 1945 saw him advancing on the northwestern slopes of the Wirui Mission Station overlooking the Wewak airstrip in northern New Guinea.

Kenna’s division was involved in the Aitape-Wewak campaign, one of the final operations of the Pacific theatre, fought from November 1944 until the end of the war. Indeed, it was on the Wewak airstrip that the Japanese General Hatazo Adachi surrendered to Australian forces on 13 September 1945.

The Japanese had occupied Aitape in northern New Guinea during their advance south in 1942. In April 1944 the US Army retook parts of the area (centred on the Wewak airstrip) to secure their flank and act as a base for the upcoming Philippines campaign. Fighting was limited despite