Claim: Byron Darnton's first overseas assignment for the New York Times was in February 1941 when he left for Australia and then New Guinea, the world's second-largest island.
Evidence: His first overseas assignment was in February 1941, when he was among the first correspondents to leave the United States for Australia. Once there, he took the first opportunity to move to forward bases in New Guinea, where the United States 32nd Infantry Division had been designated to be one of the first U.S. units to attack the Japanese. New Guinea (Tok Pisin: Niugini; Hiri Motu: Niu Gini; Indonesian: Papua, historically Irian) is the world's second-largest island and, with an area of 785,753 km (303,381 sq mi), the largest island wholly or partly within the Southern Hemisphere and Oceania.