Quote:
Originally Posted by swiss
Not sure if they really remember all details, it was 70 years ago...
|
Do not discount these men’s memories. The events that occurred were very intense and indelibly etched themselves into these veterans minds.
In June this year I was in New Guinea, walking the Kokoda Track when our party met up with the author Bill James. He wrote a guide book for people walking the track that went over the various Battles. (Title "A field Guide to the KOKODA TRACK: an historical guide t the lost battlefields" ISBN 9780977570409)
Several years ago he had flown out a number of the veterans of the Battle of Brigade Hill (including my father) to the battle site by helicopter. Bill James walked the men through the battle site according to the maps and official history accepted at the time. Some of the veterans including my dad told him that he was wrong and the action that they were involved in happened a hundred meters further up the hill. Unfortunately time, the weather and issues with the helicopter forced them to fly back to Port Moresby that day.
On a later trip armed with metal detectors, Bill James and his team (including our groups guide) went over the battle field and from the location of ordinance and spent bullet cases determined that the evidence matched up with these men’s 65 year old memories closer than official histories that were written up a year or two after the battle!
The day before we left for New Guinea, Dad drew up a mud map of the area of the battle that he was involved in. This map drawn from 68 year old memories matched almost exactly to the location we walked through.
Many of the veteran’s memories of events are still quite lucid!
Cheers!