Koolama Incident in the Timor Sea, 1942 - Bill Loane

This is the dramatic true story of survival in the north Kimberley region of Western Australia after MV Koolama is attacked and bombed by three Japanese float planes in February, 1942. After the Captain beached his stricken ship some one hundred and sixty souls took to the lifeboats and established a camp in a remote cove. This group which included a six month-old child and injured men lived as castaways, enduring hardship, while tempers stretched to breaking point and a near mutiny. A rescue bid by monks from a remote Benedictine Mission, led by Aboriginal guides through one hundred and fifty kilometres of the harshest terrain known to man and escape by lugger and seaplane for others after the patched up vessel is taken on to Wyndham by her gallant Skipper and a handful of men. Learn the fate of Koolama and the aftermath in an incredible story never before told. This book is an invaluable contribution to the documentation of Australian history and has just been made into two documentary programs by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.