Theirs is the Glory (radio feature)

Theirs is the Glory is a 1945 Australian radio series by James J. Donnelly about the Australian army's campaign in New Guinea in World War Two. It was one of ABC radio's biggest productions of the year.[1][2]

Episodes

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  • 1 (October 8) - Yellow Tidal Wave
  • 2 (October 15) - Green Crucible - "On March 8, 1942. a handful of New Guinea Volunteer Riflemen accepted the challenge of Japan’s picked troops in the landings at Lae and Salamaua, on the north coast of New Guinea. Green Crucible, in a set of exclusive actuality recordings, visions the world's most savage jungle through the eyes of a famous battle-front war photographer—the late Damien Parer. It describes in detail the Salamaua Raid one of the first ofiensive blows struck at the Japanese in the South-west Pacific. There are also highlights from the Battle of the Coral Sea".[3]
  • 3 (October 22)
  • 4 (October 29) - The Tide Was Turned - the Battle of Milne Bay.
  • 5 (November 5) - Boots to the Beach-Heads. "Tells of the Kokoda Trail and the fighting advance across the ranges. It recalls the imperishable story of the 25th and 3 16th Brigades, veterans of the Middle East, fighting for the homeland at Australia's Northern Gate. The story is splashed with the scarlet of Templeton’s Crossing, of Oivi-Corari, Soputa, and Journey’s End, a cul-de-sac of fever swamp where the jungle meets the sea."[4]
  • 6 (November 12) Beaver versus Fox. "When, the Japanese were driven across the mountains of New Guinea they retired to weapon-pits at the north coast beachheads of Buna, Gona, and Sanananda. At the jungle edge the battle of the beaches represent d Australian patience and determination pitted against Japanese cunning."[5]
  • 7 (November 19) The Thin Green Line. "Behind mountain ramparts in the jungle heart of New Guinea lies the fabulous township of Wau. Famous before the war as the centre of one of the richest alluvial goldfields in the world, it is to-day a happy hunting ground of as select a company of Australia’s warrior sons as ever broke the pride of the arrogant invader. Episode 7 tells of the famous Battle of Wau, when “the thin green line” was saved by reinforcements flown in under the guns of the Japanese."[6]
  • 8 (November 26)—Bullets and Beans. "In superstitious Japan they celebrate the New Year with a ceremony known as mami-maki, when invading devils are pelted with dried beans. Around the mountain razorbacks beyond Mubo, avenging Australians played mami-maki with bullets Instead of beans. Episode 8 presents an eye-witness account of the Bismarck Sea battle and the arrival of the Americans at Nassau Bay."[7]
  • 9 (3 December) - Mountain Round Up - "In the sky-reaching mountain masses beyond Mubo, hard-hitting Australians, with the support of American comrades, staged New Guinea's history-making, Jap-breaking, mountain round-up. Here where the razor backs are capped with clouds—with the 15th Brigade and jungle-hardened commandos taking a will-o’-the-wisp vengeance on many outposts—the 17th Brigade rounded up and roped the Japanese in the stockade of Salamaua."[8]
  • 10 (10 December) - Sand-Table Saga. "In the winter of 1943, whilst the 7th and 9th Divisions added to their repertoire the latest in jungle craft, military experts for the first time in the Pacific War enjoyed the luxury of long-range planning. At planning H.Q. they translated ideas for the capture of “Bomb-happy” Lae to the visual language of a sand-table saga. Sand-Table Saga brings you a first-hand story of Australian paratroops who, with dismantled 25-pounders, dropped from the sky to capture the Nadzab air-strip, in the Markham Valley."[9]
  • 11 (17 December) - Mural in Scarlet[10]

References

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  1. ^ Australian Broadcasting Commission. (13 October 1945), "PROGRAMME NEWS National Commercial Jungle sounds recaptured in New Guinea radio saga", ABC weekly, Sydney: ABC, nla.obj-1402070139, retrieved 10 April 2024 – via Trove
  2. ^ Australian Broadcasting Commission. (6 October 1945), "NEW GUINEA DOCUMENTARY A.B.C's EAGERLY AWAITED ACTUALITY BROADCAST STARTS OCTOBER 8", ABC weekly, Sydney: ABC, nla.obj-1402076726, retrieved 10 April 2024 – via Trove
  3. ^ Australian Broadcasting Commission. (13 October 1945), "This week's A.B.C. PLAYS", ABC weekly, Sydney: ABC, nla.obj-1402070814, retrieved 10 April 2024 – via Trove
  4. ^ Australian Broadcasting Commission. (3 November 1945), "This week's A.B.C. PLATS on the National programmes", ABC weekly, Sydney: ABC, nla.obj-1402771356, retrieved 10 April 2024 – via Trove
  5. ^ Australian Broadcasting Commission. (10 November 1945), "This week's A.B.C. PLAYS", ABC weekly, Sydney: ABC, nla.obj-1402840747, retrieved 10 April 2024 – via Trove
  6. ^ Australian Broadcasting Commission. (17 November 1945), "This week's A.B.C. PLAYS", ABC weekly, Sydney: ABC, nla.obj-1403154361, retrieved 10 April 2024 – via Trove
  7. ^ Australian Broadcasting Commission. (24 November 1945), "This week's A.B.C. PLAYS", ABC weekly, Sydney: ABC, nla.obj-1403729936, retrieved 10 April 2024 – via Trove
  8. ^ Australian Broadcasting Commission. (1 December 1945), "This week's A.B.C. PLAYS on the National Programme", ABC weekly, Sydney: ABC, nla.obj-1403824701, retrieved 10 April 2024 – via Trove
  9. ^ Australian Broadcasting Commission. (8 December 1945), "This week's A.B.C. PLAYS", ABC weekly, Sydney: ABC, nla.obj-1403956365, retrieved 10 April 2024 – via Trove
  10. ^ Australian Broadcasting Commission. (15 December 1945), "This week's A.B.C. PLAYS ON NATIONAL RELAY", ABC weekly, Sydney: ABC, nla.obj-1404107714, retrieved 10 April 2024 – via Trove