Papua: 1942–43
by
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This much I know: I fell out of the sky in a parachute. I was unconscious and I awoke from the boom of thunder followed by a refreshing downpour of rain. I was not on the ground. In fact, I was a very long way from the ground, perhaps a hundred feet up. My chute was hung up in an immense tree. The view down was sickening, and the view up was impossible because of the way I was dangling supported at my back. I knew I was in a parachute from the harness I was wearing, and I was sure that if the chute were to now break loose, it would be the end of me. I tried not to move more than to check myself for broken bones; there were none. My head, however, throbbed unmercifully! By now the rain had stopped. I was in a stand of tall trees on a steep hillside, a jungle actually, and I soon became aware of monkeys chattering above me. I could see and hear a river roaring in the ravine off to my right. Where was I? Why was I here? As I pondered these questions it began to dawn on me that I no longer knew myself. This was almost more frightening than the fear of falling to my death. I looked at my hands. There was a gold band on my left ring finger – so I must be married. How could I forget my wife? Do I have children? There was a watch on my wrist, smashed beyond recognition. My name, surely that would come to me. This had to be a momentary lapse. So I thought, at the time, but I was wrong. After these eleven days it still escapes me.
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About the Book
In Papua New Guinea, Japanese forces occupy much of the eastern shoreline and have destroyed a vital radio station needed by the Allied Forces for navigation. Now, a daring mission by two soldiers to create a new station has gone terribly wrong. As one man hangs from his parachute in the dense jungle, he suffers from amnesia. In the midst of World War II, he has no idea he is. After he is rescued by members of an indigenous tribe, “Joe” struggles to remember anything from his past. He meets a Japanese soldier who has gone AWOL, and Joe begins to wonder if he too is a soldier. Meanwhile, Mattie Billings, a newlywed living in Australia, patiently waits for any word about her husband, Rick, who is serving in the war. She has no idea that he is lost in a jungle with no recollection he is even married. Worse yet, the only one who knows what really happened in the skies above Papua New Guinea has been captured by the Japanese. As three people separated by the travesty of war struggle to be reunited, each must look deep within for the answers in order to survive.
About the Author
Charles Parker was a World War II telephone operator in Papua and Luzon. After leaving the service, he worked as a mechanical engineer and sheep farmer. He is the author of Fireside Stories and the award-winning novel The Crow’s Nest. Now retired, he lives in Robbinsville, New Jersey.