New Feller Master: Beyond the Trenches; Australia’s Neglected WW1 Story (Big Sky Publishing, Newport NSW, 2026)
Michael Piggott AM unearths a crucial yet overlooked story: the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force (ANMEF) and its occupation of German New Guinea.
In 1914, this small force, supported by the Navy, swiftly captured German New Guinea. Days later, a chilling proclamation in Pidgin declared Australia the ‘New Feller Master’ to hundreds of thousands of New Guineans, marking the start of a de facto colonial administration that would last until 1921.
New Feller Master traces the entire occupation and its century-long aftermath, revealing the intertwined military, colonial, and racial complexities of this neglected episode. Drawing on vivid primary sources, Piggott exposes looting, reprisals, and the controversial assault on Reverend William Cox – an incident that tested official responses to misconduct and reflected broader colonial practices.
In tracing moments of routine and rupture – from boredom and looting to conflicting casualty counts and vivid personal stories – Piggott reveals the attitudes and actions of Australians convinced their deeds mattered, and how these would echo for generations. (blurb)
The book is reviewed on Honest History. Review on Inside Story. Related post on our sister site, Defending Country has extracts from the book on accounting for the dead, extracts from the past, and why we remember.
Paddy Gourley reviews the book in Pearls & Irritations. The author writes in Eureka Street. The author appears for Military History and Heritage Victoria Inc.
