Congratulations to Ian Howie-Willis on the publication of Operation Postern: The Battle to Recapture Lae from the Japanese, 1943 (Big Sky Publishing). Released just before Christmas 2023, Operation Postern recounts the carefully planned and well-executed operation to retake Lae, the main Japanese base on mainland New Guinea. Previous military histories have seen the fighting in New Guinea as a two-way contest between the Japanese and the Australian-US Allies; but, as Operation Postern demonstrates, there was always a ‘Third Party’ — the village people caught up in the war that raged across their lands. Congratulations Ian!