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Ezynell

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Now, 70 years after the bloody Wau-Salamaua campaign fought in Papua New Guinea during World War II, historians are calling for the military's highest honour, the Victoria Cross, to be posthumously bestowed on Australian war hero Leslie "Bull" Allen.

On July 30, 1943, during an American assault against the Japanese on Mount Tambu, more than 50 US soldiers were injured. Two medics were killed trying to retrieve them.

The Australians were not supposed to be involved in the fighting, but having witnessed so many casualties, Allen, a stretcher-bearer, was determined to do what he could.

A Ballarat filmmaker who researched Allen's story, Lucinda Horrocks, says what the soldier did next was extraordinary.

"So this is the point at which Bull decides to go up and start carrying men out one at a time over his shoulder, through this terrain, facing the snipers and the machine gun fire and the mortar fire," she said.

Amateur historian David Cranage says each time he went back for another rescue attempt, soldiers would make bets on whether he would return.

"Backwards and forwards, backwards and forwards. Magnificent courage, unbelievable," he said.

"I've never heard anything like it before in my life and I've spent many years studying military history.

"Remember, he was carrying men from another country.

"His heart was so big. He just hopped in. It wouldn't matter where you came from. That's the mark of the man."

 

1200px-Leslie_Allen_at_Mount_Tambu_July_

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