Gona is a coastal village in
Oro Province
Oro Province, formerly (and officially still) Northern Province, is a coastal province of Papua New Guinea. The provincial capital is Popondetta. The province covers 22,800 km2, and has 176,206 inhabitants (2011 census). The province shares l ...
,
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...
.
History
Gona was the site of an
Anglican
Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of t ...
church and mission.
During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
,
Imperial Japanese troops invaded on 21–27 July 1942 and established it as a base. Three missionaries were captured at Gona; Father James Benson, May Hayman and Mavis Parkins. The two women and a six-year-old boy were beheaded on the beach. Father Benson was taken prisoner and sent to
Rabaul
Rabaul () is a township in the East New Britain province of Papua New Guinea, on the island of New Britain. It lies about 600 kilometres to the east of the island of New Guinea. Rabaul was the provincial capital and most important settlement in ...
where he remained until the end of the war in 1945.
The was sunk by
United States Army Air Forces
The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...
and
Royal Australian Air Force
"Through Adversity to the Stars"
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bombers in shallow water off Gona on 21 July 1942. It later became known as ''the Gona wreck''.
Gona was recaptured by the
Australian army
The Australian Army is the principal land warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army (CA), who ...
during the
battle of Buna-Gona on 9 December 1942.
See also
Invasion of Buna–Gona
The invasion of Buna–Gona, called ''Operation RI'' by the Japanese, was a military operation by Imperial Japanese forces to occupy the Buna– Gona area in the Territory of Papua during the Pacific campaign of the Second World War. The initi ...
References
*
William Manchester
William Raymond Manchester (April 1, 1922 – June 1, 2004) was an American author, biographer, and historian. He was the author of 18 books which have been translated into over 20 languages. He was awarded the National Humanities Medal and the ...
, ''
American Caesar
''American Caesar: Douglas MacArthur, 1880-1964'' is a 1978 biography of General of the Army Douglas MacArthur by American historian William Manchester.
Manchester paints a sympathetic but balanced portrait of MacArthur, praising the general fo ...
'', 1978, Little Brown Company, 793 pages,
External links
Pacific War Wrecks
Populated places in Oro Province
{{OroProvince-geo-stub