Original Title/Caption: “Natives aid Allied drive in New Guinea jungles. Without the aid of the New Guinea natives, many a wounded Allied soldier might have died in the trackless jungles. Native carriers ‘Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels’ are shown bringing wounded troops into an advanced American dressing station in the Buna area.”

Description: In this black and white photograph, a group of New Guinea natives carry Allied soldiers on stretchers.  The natives wear sarongs and are surrounded by tall grasses.  A line of trees is visible in the background.  This photograph was taken in March 1943 by a representative of the Australian Commonwealth.

Source: “Natives aid Allied drive in New Guinea jungles. Without the aid of the New Guinea natives, many a wounded Allied soldier might have died in the trackless jungles. Native carriers ‘Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels’ are shown bringing wounded troops into an advanced American dressing station in the Buna area.”  Photograph, 1943.  From Library of Congress: Farm Security Administration – Office of War Information Photograph Collection, Call number LC-USE6- D-009160.  http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/fsa.8b08097 (accessed March 20, 2007).

Historical discussion: In May of 1945, the Technical Information Division of the Office of the Surgeon General of the U.S. Army reported, “Of the wounded who reach our hospitals at the front, less than 4 per cent die” (Technical Information Division, Office of the Surgeon General, U.S. Army 10).