At Situm, a village on the outskirts of Lae in Papua New Guinea, about a thousand people gathered at the local sports oval waiting to see something many said they'd only ever seen in movies.
The 1st Battalion, the Royal Australian Regiment (1RAR), was conducting an infantry assault on the jungle-fringed neighbourhood, specifically on the local school, alongside Papua New Guinea Defence Force (PNGDF) soldiers from the 1st Royal Pacific Islands Regiment (1RPIR).
As exciting as the sight of heavily armed soldiers exchanging gunfire with a fictitious enemy occupying classrooms was, it's what came next that elevated excitement.
One of the CH-47F Chinooks from the 5th Aviation Regiment, which provided exfiltration for the drill, landed on the oval, its engines shut down, and the crew stepped out and invited everyone to come in for a closer look.
Pilot Captain Ryan Kerr said it was a rare chance to have face-to-face interaction with the PNG public during the typically hectic annual training schedule of Exercise Wantok Warrior.
"A lot of friendly faces and a lot of interest from the kids in particular, having not seen a Chinook before, it was a great opportunity and very well received from both sides," Captain Kerr said.
The women's representative for Situm, Bathseba Ambrisa, said it was a big day for the community.
"It's the first time ever one of the big choppers has landed here," she said, as she gathered children for a photo opportunity with the pilots and aircrew.
She said many of the younger generation had never seen the ADF and PNGDF operating together, despite the village having a long association with the Australian military.
"The Australian 7th Division helped us build our school here and our clinic," Ms Ambrisa said.
'A lot of friendly faces and a lot of interest from the kids in particular, having not seen a Chinook before, it was a great opportunity and very well received from both sides.'
The school was funded by the Australian 7th Division AIF Association in 1964, to show gratitude for the assistance provided by the local population during the New Guinea campaign.
"They settled us here, our grandfathers, those who fought in the war. We are the third generation after our fathers who fought in the war with the 7th Division," Ms Ambrisa said.
"We have the monument there and we remember our fathers that fought with those Australians."
Members of the Papuan Infantry Battalion and the New Guinea Infantry Battalions formed under Australian command and were made up mainly of Indigenous soldiers who carried out combat roles, including scouting missions.
In 1944 they amalgamated to create the Pacific Islands Regiment, the foundation force for the PNGDF.
The community's ties to the division run deep. The uniform of the Situm 7th Australian Division Memorial Primary School depicts a kookaburra on a boomerang, the insignia of the 7th, which is synonymous with the Kokoda Track and arduous battles such as Shaggy Ridge.
For the 1RAR soldiers taking part in Wantok Warrior there is another connection to the 7th Division that is perhaps less well known.
Their base in Townsville, which also hosts parent unit 3rd Brigade, is named after Lieutenant General Sir John Lavarack, the first commander of the division when it formed in 1940.
For 3rd Brigade Deputy Commander Colonel Boniface Aruma, of the PNGDF, the day was a celebration of the deep bonds forged between the Australian Army and the people of PNG.
"This is what the relationship is all about," Colonel Aruma said.
"This is powerful. What we just witnessed is the DCP [Defence Cooperation Program], what we witnessed is Wantok Warrior, what we witnessed is the MTT [mentoring training team]. That's the relationship; it goes beyond uniform to uniform."
Even the village's name, Situm, is a throwback to the WW2 era, an acronym for the Seventh International Territory United Mission.
"It's really encouraging to see that there are Papua New Guineans out here, who are not in the military, but who understand the significance of the bond and the relations that have gone on for generations," Colonel Aruma said.
