Ben Cropp - Silent warriors
In 1942, the most bloody battle between the Japanese and the Allied Forces took place on the idyllic Solomon Islands north-east of Australia. 26,000 lives were lost. Apart from the islands, the sea bed is also covered with the remnants of that war; rusty ship and plane wrecks, weapons, cannons, destroyed pontoons… On expeditions which led to the Solomons from northern Australia via the Great Barrier Reef, Ben Cropp has explored many such wrecks in detail. Although all wooden sections have long since rotted away, the segments of ships and weaponry, covered by algae and shells, still act as a cautionary reminder of that war.