Damien Parer Damien Peter Parer ( 1 August 1912 – 17 September 1944 ) was an Australian war photographer . He became famous for his war photography of the Second World War , and was killed by Japanese machine gun fire at Peleliu , Palau . He was cinematographer for Australia ' s first Oscar - winning film , " Kokoda Front Line ! " , an edition of the weekly newsreel , " Cinesound Review " , which was produced by Ken G . Hall . Early life . Damien Parer was born at Malvern in Melbourne , the tenth child of John Arthur Parer , a Spanish - born hotel manager on King Island and his wife Teresa . In 1923 , he and his brother , Adrian , were sent as boarders to St Stanislaus ' College in Bathurst and St Kevin ' s College , Melbourne . He joined the school ' s camera club , and decided that he wanted to be a photographer , rather than a priest . However , finding a job as a photographer in depression - era Australia proved difficult , and so he resumed his education at St Kevin ' s in east Melbourne . While at this school he won a prize in a photographic competition run by the Melbourne newspaper , the " Argus " , and used the money to buy a Graflex camera used by professionals . Parer obtained an apprenticeship with Arthur Dickinson . He said later that he learnt most about photography from Dickinson and Max Dupain . He finished his apprenticeship in 1933 and , sometime later , obtained work with the director , Charles Chauvel , on the film " Heritage " , where he met and became friends with another up - and - coming filmmaker of the time , John Heyer . At the conclusion of that film , and with the help of Chauvel , he obtained work in Sydney , and so moved there in 1935 . Career . By 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 HMAS " Sydney " after it had sunk the Italian cruiser " Bartolomeo Colleoni " . Soon after , he was aboard HMS " Ladybird " while it was bombarding the sea port of Bardia in Libya . His first experience at close quarters was during a troop advance at Derna . Parer filmed in Greece and in Syria , covering the action from aircraft , the deck of a ship and on the ground with the infantry . After Syria he traveled to Tobruk in August 1941 before covering the fighting in the Western desert . By mid - 1942 Parer was in New Guinea ready to cover the fighting against the Japanese . Together with war correspondent Osmar White , he undertook an arduous journey by schooner , launch and then on foot from Port Moresby to Wau via Yule Island , Terapo and Kudjiru , in order to document the efforts of the meager forces then fighting on the northern coast of Papua New Guinea . During this phase of the war , he filmed some of his most famous sequences , some at Salamaua and , most notably , those used in " Kokoda Front Line ! " . This documentary won its producer , Ken G . Hall , an Academy Award for documentary film - making . Parer was killed by Japanese gunfire while filming a United States Marine advance in Palau on the island of Peleliu . Personal . He married Elizabeth Marie Cotter on 23 March 1944 , and his son , producer Damien Parer , was born after his father had died . He was also the uncle of Australian politician Warwick Parer and film - maker David Parer . Filmography . Damien Parer is credited for the following films :