Voices from the Air (44 page)

Dudley Leggett, ABC war correspondent 1942–1943 (ABC Archives)

Telegram from Ray Paull, Aitape, New Guinea. Press telegram was one means of sending news copy from forward areas. Phrasing like ‘the fresh Australian campaign . . . will not be spectacular' indicates the limitations on reporting that contributed to the friction between correspondents and army PR. 9 January 1945. (NAA)

Telegram from Fred Simpson, Wewak, New Guinea, advising the ABC that the recording gear had been damaged by Japanese shellfire. Simpson and Len Edwards scrambled to safety but their tent was destroyed. Simpson covered the final stages of the campaign that began with Ray Paull at Aitape. 25 May 1945. (NAA)

Ray Paull recording a report on board a USAF B-24 Liberator bomber. Together with the technician Len Edwards, Paull recorded a report of a raid by Australian bomber air crew on a Japanese base at Kairiru Island, off the New Guinea north coast. March 1944. (AWM)

Ray Paull and other war correspondents fording a river at Aitape, New Guinea. Paull and the other correspondents were restricted in some of their reporting of the Aitape campaign, leading to clashes with army PR. Left to right: Ray Paull, Gordon Holland (
Argus
), Kim Keane (
Melbourne Herald
), Jim Fitzpatrick (photographer), Don Angel (Department of Information). 16 March 1945. (AWM)

Ray Paull, ABC war correspondent 1944–1945 (Photo courtesy of Vivienne Benton)

Len Edwards with recording equipment in the fuselage of a B-24 Liberator bomber. Edwards is using a lightweight portable recorder that he made himself to handle the cramped space and vibration aboard the bomber. The recording was made with war correspondent Ray Paull during a raid against the Japanese on Kairiru Island, New Guinea. March 1944. (AWM)

Len Edwards, ABC war correspondent (radio technician) 1942–1945 (Courtesy Chris Edwards)

Len Edwards' war correspondent identity card. (Courtesy Chris Edwards)

Haydon Lennard, ABC war correspondent, 1942–1945 (ABC Archives)