 A small 25 @-@ man force of naval reservists was subsequently landed at Kabakaul Bay and continued inland to capture the radio station believed to be in operation at Bita Paka , 4 miles ( 7 km ) to the south . The Australians were resisted by a mixed force of German reservists and Melanesian native police , who forced them to fight their way to the radio station . By nightfall , the radio station was reached and it was found to have been abandoned , the mast dropped but its instruments and machinery intact . During the Battle of Bita Paka six Australians were killed and five wounded , while the defenders lost one German non @-@ commissioned officer ( NCO ) and about 30 Melanesians killed , and one German and ten Melanesians wounded . Later it was alleged that the heavy losses among the Melanesian troops was the result of the Australians bayoneting all those they had captured during the fighting . As a result of this engagement , Able Seaman <unk> Williams became the first Australian fatality of the war . The first Army fatality was a medical officer , Captain B. C. A. <unk> , who died the same day . 
