Geraldton City RSL

1 week 3 days ago

On this day... in 1944, the Australian Academy award-winning cameraman Damien Parer was killed while filming US troops on the island of Peleliu in the Pacific. Parer had won the Oscar for best documentary in 1943 with his film, "Front Line Kokoda".

Acquaintances thought that his commitment to filming troops on the frontline would bring about his death. He filmed Australian troops in North Africa, Greece and Syria, New Guinea and Timor then US troops on Guam and on Peleliu before his death. When he was killed, he was walking backwards behind a tank filming the faces of US Marines advancing under fire. As a war correspondent, he was mentioned in dispatches for "exceptional services in the field".

Lest we forget.

Ian Smith
Chair
ANZAC Day Committee

Image of Damien Parer: AWM