7 December 1942

A disastrous day for the Australians at Gona and nearby Sanananda, where 125 die on the day when the Diggers are ordered to make a frontal assault on the heavily entrenched positions defended by more than 3000 Japanese.

At Gona, one of the 2/16^th Battalion’s finest soldiers, Lt Alan Haddy, dies in a heroic rearguard action, covering his men’s withdrawal after they are overwhelmed by a surging force of Japanese.

Haddy and Pte Syd Stephens fight to the last shot and are later found surrounded by a ring of dead Japanese soldiers.