Alan Powell. The Third Force: Angau's New Guinea War, 1942-46.

Alan Powell. The Third Force: Angau's New Guinea War, 1942-46, Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 2003.

Alan Powell's book is well named and justifiably puts forward the point that aside from the Allied and Japanese forces arrayed against each other in the fighting for Papua and the Territory of New Guinea in WW2, there was another key force, ANGAU, the Australian New Guinea Administrative Unit. Powell then proceeds to build an irrefutable case that this Third Force had a crucial role in the successful outcome of the Allied campaigns.

Despite some excellent individual war memoirs of Angau operatives, an all-encompassing book on this subject was long overdue. When one reads this book and gains an understanding of the breadth of the Angau involvement in the war, it is perhaps understandable. The dedication of Powell to the task and his scholarship in trawling the primary sources is impressive as also is his work in interviewing a number of Angau personnel. In reading the book it becomes clear that what made Angau such a vital force in the Allied victory was the strong and determined nature of these men and their ability to work with the local people and operate in the most trying of conditions.

The job of bringing together the story of such a wide-ranging subject in an understandable structure is no easy task and Powell has done a remarkable job, not least of all in how he has structured his chapters. The military history of Angau is covered in the first chapters and it is reasonably brief. This was disappointing until one gets into the later chapters where Powell expands upon the role of the Angau operatives, putting into context some of the wonderful memoirs that were written by Angau operatives post war. Refreshingly he also goes deeply into the actions and experiences of the indigenous people who were very much the forgotten victims of this war.

To select some highlights, I found the section on the role of Angau in the rescue of aircrew fascinating and never before given due merit. Also the role of Angau with the US forces during the landings on New Britain and Manus Island was most informative and clearly demonstrated the immense contribution Angau could make in a direct military sense. Here we can read of names that stand alongside those of the Australian legends of the Papuan and New Guinea campaigns. Men like the Sepik man Bago, the scouts Amagumi, Koigi and the extraordinary Ungor of Goru. Many American soldiers can be grateful for the work of the Manus Islander, Kwia during the crucial fighting for his home islands. Then we have Yaugiwa who undermined the entire Japanese spy system in Northern Bougainville. Powell's book will not tell you all about these men, but will open your eyes to their vital contributions to the war. I recently interviewed one of the most highly decorated Australian commandos of the war in New Guinea and he constantly lauded the work of his right hand man, Kalamsei, posthumously awarded the British Empire Medal for his fine service.

Powell's research on native recruitment and the effect it had on native communities also rightfully puts into context the sacrifice the native people made for the Allied cause. Christ may well be considered black to any one of the thousands of Allied soldiers who relied on the Fuzzy Wuzzy angels to get them back to succour. The alternative scenario as experienced by the Japanese army in Papua and in New Guinea makes it all too clear the value of the native carriers. That service was not without cost, 46 falling to enemy fire with another 91 wounded. 2024 perished from other causes. Powell rightly calls the lack of recompense a "stain on Australia's war record." One of the little known early tragedies of this side of the war was the use of Highland native carriers in the coastal lowlands where they were subjected to the ravages of previously unknown malaria. Only strong Angau intervention prevented many more from sharing their fate.

My only criticisms of the book would be the thoroughness of the index, where many of the Angau natives mentioned in the text are not listed and the brevity of the War Diary annotations. In a book so scrupulously annotated it is annoying to find a reference of interest can cover some hundreds of pages of War Diary entries.

I would certainly highly recommend this book, part of the Australian Army History series. It is a must read for any researcher of the Papuan and New Guinea campaigns.