Eyes of a Chaplain

The World War II pages for the New Guinea and Pacific area of Roy's Resources are based on three documents that belonged to the late Edgar Roy Cochrun, Chaplain (Colonel), United States Army:

• A copy of the New Testament, which he used from 1941 to 1943. It was used aboard the USAT Ancon, 22 April - 14 May 1942, as it sailed from San Francisco to Adelaid, Southern Australia. He kept a sort of diary about the crossing in blank areas of the inside cover and first two or three pages. The testament also was used "in [the] islands and in New Guinea."
• A very small diary he kept from May 31, 1942
• A "Record of Funerals Overseas - Australia, 1942-1943.

Copies of the Guinea Gold, a newspaper printed for the troops in New Guinea during the war, also belonged to him. Scans are being uploaded when I find the time. Forty editions of this rare, little 4-page paper have been scanned as of 20 May 2013.

WWII Pacific Site Links

Collision at Sea discusses an accident one night as he was sailing aboard a troop transport to another base.

Pacific War Losses is a short list of American soldiers from his notebook at whose funerals Chaplain Cochrun officiated in 1942 to early 1943 in Australia and New Guinea. Information includes rank, organization assigned, date, next of kin and sometimes cause of death.

The Sinking of the Masaya is a short exerpt from his diary of an air rad that took place at Oro Bay, New Guinea.

The crossing from San Francisco to Australia

Other information gleaned from the three sources