News photographer, born in Malvern, Melbourne, Victoria, SE Australia. Trained for the priesthood, he developed an interest in cinematography. In 1940 he became an official cameraman with the 2nd Australian Imperial Forces and went to the Middle East, filming the action at the siege of Tobruk, and later worked in Greece, Syria, and New Guinea. He shot a number of documentary films in the heat of battle, and his Kokoda Front (1942) was the first Australian film to win an Oscar. In 1943 he joined the US troops for the liberation of the Pacific, and was killed while filming their landing at Peleliu, Caroline Is.
Damien Peter Parer (1 August 1912 - 20 September 1944) was an Australian war photographer. He became famous for his war photography of the Second World War, and was killed by Japanese machinegun fire at Peleliu, Palau.
Early life
Damien Parer was born at Malvern in Melbourne but was educated largely in Bathurst, at Saint Stanislaus School. 1
Career
By the World War II, Parer was experienced at photography and motion pictures, and was appointed as official movie photographer to the Australian Imperial Force (AIF).
His first war footage was taken on the HMAS Sydney after it had sunk the Italian cruiser Bartolomeo Colleoni.
Parer filmed in Greece and in Syria, covering the action from aircraft, the deck of a ship and on the ground with the infantry. By mid-1942 Parer was in New Guinea ready to cover the fighting against the Japanese. 1
Filmography
Damien Parer is credited for the following films:
Men of Timor (1942) Moresby Under the Blitz (1942) Kokoda Front Line! (1942) Assault on Salamaua (1943) The Bismarck Convoy Smashed (1943)2
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