6 August 1942

At 11am US Liberty ship James Fenimore Cooper heads out of Brisbane carrying 2/14^th Battalion to PNG to reinforce the embattled 39^th and 53^rd Bns on Track.

Around the same time, D Coy of 39^th reaches Deniki and for the first time the battalion is together as a unit, a total of around 500 gathered there - 31 officers and 433 other ranks of 39^th, together with 8 officers and 35 natives of the Papuan Infantry Battalion.

They face the first wave of the Japanese advance units, about 1500-2000 seasoned troops.