Damien Peter Parer (1 August 1912 – 17 September 1944) was an Australian war photographer. He became famous for his war photography of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and was killed by

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

machine-gun fire at

Peleliu Peleliu (or Beliliou) is an island in the island nation of Palau. Peleliu, along with two small islands to its northeast, forms one of the sixteen states of Palau. The island is notable as the location of the Battle of Peleliu in World War II. ...

Palau Palau, officially the Republic of Palau, is an island country in the Micronesia subregion of Oceania in the western Pacific Ocean. The Republic of Palau consists of approximately 340 islands and is the western part of the Caroline Islands ...

. He was cinematographer for Australia's first

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People and fictional and mythical characters * Oscar (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters named Oscar, Óscar or Oskar * Oscar (footballer, born 1954), Brazilian footballer ...

-winning film, '' Kokoda Front Line!'', an edition of the weekly newsreel, '' Cinesound Review'', which was produced by Ken G. Hall.

Early life

Damien Parer was born at Malvern in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, the seventh child of John Arthur Parer, a Spanish-Catalan-born hotel manager on King Island and his wife Teresa, the daughter of JP Carolin a Tasmanian and Mary Corcoran from Tipperary, Ireland. In 1923, he and his brother Adrian were sent as boarders to St Stanislaus' College in Bathurst and

St Kevin's College, Melbourne St Kevin's College is a private Catholic primary and secondary school for boys located in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The college has three campuses, two of which are in the suburb of Toorak, the third in Richmond. The school also has playi ...

. He joined the school's camera club, and decided that he wanted to be a photographer, rather than a priest. However, finding a job as a photographer in depression-era Australia proved difficult, so he resumed his education at St Kevin's in East Melbourne. While at this school he won a prize in a photographic competition run by the Melbourne newspaper '' The Argus'', and used the money to buy a Graflex camera used by professional photographers. Parer obtained an apprenticeship with Arthur Dickinson. He said later that he learned most about photography from Dickinson and

Max Dupain Maxwell Spencer Dupain AC OBE (22 April 191127 July 1992) was an Australian modernist photographer. Early life Dupain received his first camera as a gift in 1924, spurring his interest in photography. He later joined the Photographic Society ...

. He finished his apprenticeship in 1933 and, in mid-1934, obtained work with the director Charles Chauvel on the film ''Heritage'', where he met and became friends with another up-and-coming filmmaker of the time,

John Heyer John Whitefoord Heyer (14 September 1916 – 19 June 2001) was an Australian documentary filmmaker, who is often described as the father of Australian documentary film.''Oxford companion to Australian film'' (1999) John Heyer spent the major ...

. In September 1935 Damien was offered and accepted via telegram the Assistant Cameraman position on Chauvel's film '' Rangle River''. At the conclusion of that film, and with the help of Chauvel, he obtained work in Sydney, and so moved there in 1935.

Career

By World War II, Parer was experienced at photography and motion pictures, and was appointed as official movie photographer to the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) His first war footage was taken on HMAS ''Sydney'' after it had sunk the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

cruiser ''

Bartolomeo Colleoni Bartolomeo Colleoni (; 1400 – 2 November 1475) was an Italian condottiero who served as the captain-general of the Republic of Venice. Colleoni gained a reputation as one of the foremost tacticians and disciplinarians of the 15th century.'' ...

''. Soon afterwards, he was aboard HMS ''Ladybird'' while it was bombarding the sea port of

Bardia Bardia, also El Burdi or Bardiyah ( or ) is a Mediterranean seaport in the Butnan District of eastern Libya, located near the border with Egypt. It is also occasionally called ''Bórdi Slemán''. The name Bardia is deeply rooted in the ancient ...

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

. His first experience at close quarters was during a troop advance at Derna. Parer filmed in

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

and in

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

, covering the action from aircraft, the deck of a ship and on the ground with the infantry. After Syria he travelled to

Tobruk Tobruk ( ; ; ) is a port city on Libya's eastern Mediterranean coast, near the border with Egypt. It is the capital of the Butnan District (formerly Tobruk District) and has a population of 120,000 (2011 est.)."Tobruk" (history), ''Encyclop� ...

once again on the ''Ladybird'' in August 1941 before covering the fighting in the Western Desert. In November 1941 while looking to cover the battle at Sidi Omar, Parer was driving Major Randolph Churchill, only son of the wartime British PM Winston Churchill, and newsman Chester Wilmot when they nearly were killed by British artillery mistaking them for enemy combatants. By mid-1942 Parer was in

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

ready to cover the fighting against the Japanese. Together with war correspondent Osmar White, he undertook an arduous journey by schooner, launch and on foot from

Port Moresby (; Tok Pisin: ''Pot Mosbi''), also referred to as Pom City or simply Moresby, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea. It is one of the largest cities in the southwestern Pacific (along with Jayapura) outside of Australia and New ...

to Wau via Yule Island, Terapo and Kudjiru, in order to document the efforts of the meagre forces then fighting on the northern coast of

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

. During this phase of the war, he filmed some of his most famous sequences, some at

Salamaua Salamaua () was a small town situated on the northeastern coastline of Papua New Guinea, in Salamaua Rural LLG, Morobe province. The settlement was built on a minor isthmus between the coast with mountains on the inland side and a headland. The c ...

and, most notably, those used in '' Kokoda Front Line!''. This documentary won its producer, Ken G. Hall, an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

for documentary film-making. During his time in P.N.G he befriended Australian artist Dennis Adams. Damien Parer shot footage during the Battle of Guam that won him a posthumous Headliner Award from the American Journalists' Association. Parer was killed on 17 September 1944 by Japanese gunfire while filming a

United States Marine The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionary ...

advance in

on the island of

. Damien Parer's body was initially buried in a shallow grave on Peleliu but later exhumed and moved to Makassar War Cemetery, Celebes, South Sulawesi, Indonesia after the war in 1946. It was then moved to its resting place location in Ambon War Cemetery, Pandan Kasturi, Kota Ambon, Maluku, Indonesia when all the graves in Makassar were relocated there in 1961.

Personal

He married Elizabeth Marie Cotter on 23 March 1944, and his son, also named Damien, was born in 1945, 6 months after his father had died. Parer was a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. The younger Damien became a film and TV producer.

In popular culture

'' Fragments of War: The Story of Damien Parer'' was a 1988 telemovie for Network 10 directed by

John Duigan John Duigan (born 19 June 1949) is an Australian film director and screenwriter. He is mostly known for his two autobiographical fiction, autobiographical films ''The Year My Voice Broke'' and ''Flirting (film), Flirting'', and the 1994 film ' ...

with

Nicholas Eadie Nicholas Eadie (1958 – 22 January 2025) was an Australian television, film and theatre actor. Early life and education Born in Sydney, New South Wales to actor and Australian Broadcasting Commission radio announcer Mervyn Eadie, he attended ...

as Parer. A second

television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a Terrestr ...

called ''Parer's War'', starring

Matthew Le Nevez Matthew Le Nevez (born 10 January 1979) is an Australian actor. He is best known for his roles as Doctor Patrick Reid in the TV series ''Offspring'', Detective Brian Dutch in the Tasmanian Gothic sci-fi television show '' The Kettering Incident ...

as Parer and Adelaide Clemens as Marie Cotter, directed by

Alister Grierson Alister Grierson (born 1969) is an Australian film director and scriptwriter. Early life and education Born in Canberra, he completed his secondary schooling at Canberra Grammar School, Canberra Grammar, graduated in Economics and Arts from th ...

, premiered on 27 April 2014 on the ABC.

Filmography

Damien Parer is credited for the following films: * Life at Sea (1940) *Camp Life (1940) *Anzac Day, Gaza, 1940 (1940) *The Fall of Bardia, Naval Action (1941) *The Action Against Tobruk (1941) with Frank Hurley *Tobruk—The Day by Day Story (1941) with Frank Hurley *The Evacuation of Greece (1941) *The Return of the Seventh Division (1942) *The Blitz on Port Moresby (1942) *The Strangest Supply Route of the War (1942) * '' Moresby Under the Blitz'' (1942) * '' Kokoda Front Line!'' (1942) * '' The Road to Kokoda'' (1942) *'' Men of Timor'' (1942) *RAAF Coverage, Moresby (1943) * '' The Bismarck Convoy Smashed'' (1943) *'' Assault on Salamaua'' (1943) *Air Transport (1943) His outstanding films with Paramount News from the end of August 1943: * The Landing at Tarawa (1943) *The Landing in the Admiralties (1944) *The Invasion of Hollandia (1944) *'' I Saw it Happen'' (1944) the invasion of Guam

References

Sources

*McDonald, Neil (1994) ''War Cameraman: The Story of Damien Parer'', Port Melbourne, Lothian
McDonald, Neil (2000) "Parer, Damien (1912–1944)" in ''Australian Dictionary of Biography''
*Who's Who in Australian Military History
Damien Peter Parer

Australian War Memorial The Australian War Memorial (AWM) is a national war memorial, war museum, museum and archive dedicated to all Australians who died as a result of war, including peacekeeping duties. The AWM is located in Campbell, Australian Capital Territory, C ...

External links

More information from AWM
*
Damien Parer at the Australian War MemorialNine MSN on Damien ParerPhotographic reels at the National Library of Australia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Parer, Damien Australian documentary filmmakers Australian photojournalists War photographers 1912 births 1944 deaths Photographers from Melbourne People educated at St Kevin's College, Melbourne Australian people of Spanish descent Australian Roman Catholics 20th-century Australian photographers War photographers killed while covering military conflicts Australian war correspondents Australian civilians killed in World War II World War II photographers People from Malvern, Victoria People educated at St Stanislaus' College (Bathurst)