Only One Masta. "The Third Force: ANGAU's New Guinea War 1942-46" by Alan Powell [review]

Abstract

Unattractive as some aspects of ANGAU’s régime may have been, the battle could not have been won without it. But it is the native peoples who emerge from this fascinating and powerful account as the true heroes of the campaign. What gives the book its particular authority is that Powell articulates the stories of individual men who served within ANGAU’s ranks, and their often extraordinary feats. He accurately sums up their contribution: ‘ANGAU’s men, black and white, were the essential force behind the Allied war machine in New Guinea; a symbiosis that carried the seeds of victory.’ Powell’s fine book is a worthy tribute to those strong, brave men of PNG.