| In late 1942 the Small Ships Section of the United States Army Services of Supply - South-West Pacific Area requisitioned 100's of small vessels - fishing trawlers, tugs, private launches, etc from Australians. These vessels were then sailed from Australia to New Guinea.
The men who sailed this vessels and the vessels themselves have been largely forgotten, very little has ever been written about them. Yet these men were vital; they were the life line of the allied armies advance in New Guinea. They carried everything from troops to ammunitition to mail and food.
This is the diary of my father - Ken Shearer - who sailed with his fishing trawler during 1942 and May 1943 and towed barges around Oro Bay, Buna and Porlock Harbour. |
