This honour was awarded for defensive action at Slater’s Knoll, astride the Buin Road, on the Puriata River, in Bougainville’s Southern Sector. When the Australians reached the Puriata River, the Japanese counter-attacked, concentrating their forces against Slater’s Knoll on 6 April. For several days prior, the Japanese attacked the forward Australian troops along the Buin Road and at Barara.