Alex parky (@madeofstone71) header
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Winging it thru life. Stonemason, imps fan ,whippet owner and battlefield/SWPA enthusiast. Love a good bike ride too.

Lincoln, England
Joined December 2015
Photo by Alex parky (@madeofstone71)Photo by Alex parky (@madeofstone71)Photo by Alex parky (@madeofstone71)Photo by Alex parky (@madeofstone71)Photo by Alex parky (@madeofstone71)Photo by Alex parky (@madeofstone71)Photo by Alex parky (@madeofstone71)Photo by Alex parky (@madeofstone71)Photo by Alex parky (@madeofstone71)Photo by Alex parky (@madeofstone71)
Australia will be there. OTD in 1940 As Britain still reels from the Dunkirk evacuation a convoy slips into a Scottish port , its content? A fighting formation of the Australian Imperial Forces
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Another for me Kokoda reading pile @WeHaveWaysPod
Light but essential reading. Of course, there’s also always:
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youtube.com/watch?v=VbSXJsG9… Another AWM produced Kokoda film. Australian and Japanese veterans with their memories of the campaign with additional wartime footage. @WeHaveWaysPod
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Travelling light, a Peter Brune epic and a copy of Wartime with superb articles from @KarlJames_1945 @kristenauthor and the PNG guru @Phillip72850753
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"Gona will fall on the 29th Nov." Time between 21st Brigade's infantry arrival in the operational theatre to it's first attack? 2 days. Experienced Battalion commanders given no time to patrol or probe the formidable defences. Unforgivable
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Enjoying the 2/27th history. Late 1943 and the battalion gets acquainted with the Finisterre Range and hills leading to Shaggy Ridge. Logistics SWPA style were the men's lifeline.
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Being harassed at work
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August 1943 Atherton Tableland. As the 2/27th Battalion prepare to embark to New Guinea they receive an unexpected delivery. Colonel Bishop's reply is a beauty.
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Papua. Late November 1942. Rare to see such criticism in a battalion history but Gona was brutal. It's worth remembering that the 2/27th Battalion was down to 160 men at this point. They would be relieved in January 60 strong.
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Demotion. Colonel Jim Dobbs of the 2/10th style. Thanks to @pilbarahearts
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And now for a @DWB55 thread on the closing shots. the fighting after the beachhead battles. Things sorted now @almurray ?
🧵 Ambush at AMBASI From mid-January 1943 the bedraggled few thousand survivors of Major Gen. Kensaku Oda's forces on the Papuan coast around Gona-Buna were desperately trying to escape . Their beachhead was being reduced day by day. They fled in groups by night, silently. 1/21
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The opening shots of the Kokoda campaign, another brilliant thread from the past by @DWB55
OTD 1942: Today an historic day for Papua New Guinea. 🇵🇬 Near Awala, between Buna and Kokoda (Papua), 35 PNG and 3 Australian soldiers of the Papuan Infantry Battalion armed only with .303 rifles took up an ambush position and were given the order "You will engage the enemy." /2
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An older post and a few days out from an OTD but a great Kokoda thread from Dennis teapaw.org/DWB55/status/131876410…
Thread 1/5: The Eora Creek clash: Eora Creek village area (Owen Stanley Range, Papua) looking east. In late October 1942, site of one of the major clashes during the Australian 7th Division’s slow drive north over the mountain range. The track headed north (left) over Eora Creek.
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Syria. June 1942. Bored of life in B echelon of the 2/27th WW1 veteran L/cpl Dick Howes joined the battalion assault. His enthusiasm and questionable french got him the M.M. and the biggest bollocking of his life from the C.O.
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Forgot just how good this book was and great to be in the company again of Angus Suthers and the Tasmania/North Queensland combo that was the 2/12th Battalion. An old post. Some of the most iconic photos of the SW pacific campaign. George Silk going in with the 2/12th at Buna.
"Get down you silly bugger" OTD Buna, 8 am 1st January 1943. Following an artillery, mortar and machine gun barrage the 600 men of the 2/12th attack supported by 6 tanks . George Silk will follow A Company and go in with D Company on the left in the second 'mopping up' wave.
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CSM Athol Shillaker, 2/27th Battalion AIF of Adelaide S.A Fought a private war with captured french weapons in Syria. On return to Australia joined the RAAF as a rear gunner and completed a tour on Bombers and with Pathfinder Force
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Beware my tale woe gentlemen . You read one book about Australian soldiers cutting toothbrushes and blankets to save weight ....
Recording more Kokoda today.
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The South Australian battalion are down to less than 150 men. Orders from Brigade? Keep attacking.
December 29th 1942, Buna, Papua. Captain Hugh Matheson and the remaining 46 men of C Company 2/10th battalion are ordered to attack a heavily defended Japanese position. 22 men would be left at the end of the day.
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Another post from the good old days about the Buna fighting. The 2/10th Battalion joins the stoush.
1,OTD BUNA 24TH December 1942 Christmas eve. US engineers had built a bridge over Senemi creek allowing the deployment of 4 Stuart tanks to assist the 2/10th. With the 128th US regiment on the left all was ready for the attack up the old strip.
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I'm back with 18th Australian Brigade at Buna. A path I've walked before and thought I'd share a post from those days. Don't know why but the indecent haste of the assault still angers me.
Thread OTD Buna 18th December 1942. 1.On the night of the 17th the 2/9th moved up to the start line ready for the 7am assault. Accompany them were a squadron of 2/6th armoured Reg. Stuart tanks.
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