A scene that illustrates one of the main obstacles to the Australian advance on Wewak: rivers. Heavily loaded troops, probably of the 2/2nd Battalion, cross the flooded Ninahau River in March 1945. The current is so fast that they have to go hand over hand by rope. Crossings like this were an ideal ambush point. The 2/2nd Battalion's patrols across this river, led in some cases by the redoubtable Lieutenant Chowne, were the prelude to the capture of the key settlement of But. AWM 018294
Source
AWM 018294
Copyright
Australian War Memorial