Angoram Tragedy
p. 49 · Read in the full issue
Recalled
One of the many tragic side lights on the war in New Guinea, told by Dudley McCarthy in his War History, is of the time an assistant district officer at Angoram became mental.
In March, 1942, he refused to leave his station, and armed and entrenched with about 40 of his native police, he fought a pitched battle for more than two hours with ADO J. L. Taylor and a party, shot Taylor and drove them away from the station. A few days later District Officer J. H. Jones closed in on the station with seven other Euro peans and seven other natives, but found the ADO had shot himself dead, and his police had fled.
Later some of the rebel police killed a patrol officer, three European miners, two Chinese and many natives, ravaged a wide area, fomented local up risings and caused serious dis orders amongst the natives generally before they them selves were finally killed or apprehended.