Excitement Was Growing
Brian Freeman compared it to walking onto a film set. Adding, “I was excited that I’d been taken to such an important historical site but emotionally disturbed by seeing the remains of so many dead soldiers, from both sides.” They had found a Japanese soldiers remains, still with his helmet on, propped up against a tree, right where he fell in battle around 70 years before. His boots were close by, as were loads of ammunition, Japanese shells, Australian machine guns and hand grenades. In the foliage of the clearing were helmets boots, bones and water bottles galore.
Excitement Was Growing
Unexpected
As Brian Freeman told The Times, “I thought we might just a find a couple of old weapons but there were guns, mines, helmets, water bottles. It was incredibly emotional knowing that you were looking at items that had been dropped as those Japanese and Australian soldiers lost their lives. And the dead lay just where they had fallen or were laid by their comrades…It was as if the battle had just happened.”
Unexpected