The Top Ender Magazine August September 2023 Edition

WE REMEMBER
DAMIEN PARER
Damien Parer is Australia's best known war
cameraman... His film Kokoda Front Line won
an Oscar in 1943.
The documentary was made by celebrated war
correspondent and cameraperson, Damien Peter Parer,
and film-maker, Kenneth George Hall. It was filmed on
location in New Guinea in 1942. In the documentary, we
see Australian troops along the Kokoda Track, the fighting
conditions in the jungle, and the help of indigenous
carriers to remove wounded soldiers from the front line
- it was one of 4 winners of the 15th Academy Awards
for best documentary, and the first Australian film to win
an Oscar.
Damien Peter Parer was born in Melbourne on 1 August
1912. As a small boy he wished to become a photographer
or a film-maker. Prior to World War II he moved to Sydney
where he found employment with the film director
Charles Chauvel.
In 1940 Parer became an official war photographer. He
went to the Middle East and filmed the Australians at war
in Greece and North Africa. He returned to Australia in
1942.
Parer's next assignment was on the Kokoda track. Parer
had to abandon much of his equipment, however he
retained the rolls of film he had shot, and they became the
basis for the Kokoda Front Line documentary. For the first
time, the film showed Australians at home what conditions
were like for soldiers along the track.
Later, Parer filmed the fighting at Timor and Salamaua and
flew in Australian Beaufighters to record the Battle of the
Bismarck Sea. Parer's film can be seen in the Cinesound
newsreels Men of Timor, The Bismarck Convoy Smashed
and Assault on Salamaua.
Image: Informal portrait of Damien Parer about to
embark on the transport ship Empress of Japan. Parer
was an official military photographer and cameraman
with the Department of Information Film Unit. He
served in the Middle East, Greece and the South-West
Pacific from 1940 until his resignation in August 1943 to
join the staff of Paramount Pictures Film Services. He
was killed on Peleliu Island 17 September 1944 while
filming front line operations with the US Marine Corps.
AWM 000401
140 Years
On the Inside
I recently visited the historic Fannie Bay Gaol (the Darwin Gaol from 20/9/1883 –
1/9/1979), located at Fannie Bay, opposite the Cool Spot Café. It is now a museum
where you can walk through old cell blocks and the execution gallows. It is open from
10am – 2pm Wed – Sun and takes a good hour or two to see everything and read some
of the stories on the walls.
Entry is FREE, though donations are appreciated (please
note that currently, they only have the ability to accept
cash donations).
Make sure you pick up their brochure at the front desk
(manned by a friendly staff member), to give you extra
information about what you are seeing and helps you
find your way around the gaol.
I highly recommend a visit to experience some of
Darwin’s history - it was awesome to be able to walk
through the various buildings and imagine life as it was
back then for those behind bars.
Written by Masela Draper
Community Contributor
The Top Ender Magazine
Her Majesty's Gaol and Labour Prison was
Darwin's main prison from 20 September
1883 until 1 September 1979. In 1979
prisoners were relocated to the correctional
facility located in Berrimah.
In August 1943, he left the Department of Information and
took a post with the American company Paramount News.
His first assignment was filming the United States Army Air
Force in action in New Guinea, then returned to Australian
in 1944.
His next assignment was with the United States Marines.
He landed with them on Guam and Peleliu. Parer believed
that to capture images of the faces of men in battle it
was necessary to be close to the front line, sometimes
even in front of it. On 17 September 1944, he was filming
marines advancing with his back to the enemy, and he was
killed by Japanese fire.
Image: Official photographer Damien Parer putting a
new film into his Speed Graphic camera. AWM 141248
Extracted from DVA
anzacportal.dva.gov.au/wars-and-missions/
kokoda-track-1942-1943/kokoda-track/
about-kokoda-track-1942-and-today/
damien-parer
The 20th of September 2023 marks 140 years since
the Fannie Bay Gaol was opened.
Male and female prisoners were held in separate
buildings from 1928. The female prison block included a
small garden designed to keep the prisoners busy. An
infirmary was added in 1887, which contained gallows
used up until the last executions held in the Northern
Territory in 1952. A watch tower, "native section" for
Aboriginal prisoners, kitchen mess building, remand
section and two maximum security wings were added
during the 1950s.
Written by MAGNT
www.magnt.net.au/fannie-bay-gaol
Cnr East Point Rd & Ross Smith Ave, Fannie
Bay, Darwin
Open Wed – Sun: 10am – 2pmFREE ENTRY
P +61 8 8941 3650
E info@magnt.net.au
Closed New Year's Day, Good Friday, Christmas
Day and Boxing Day
14 The Top Ender | Tri-Services Magazine Incorporated AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2023 15