Mount Wilhelm

Mount Wilhelm (Wilhelmsberg) is the highest mountain in Papua New Guinea at . It is part of the Bismarck Range and the peak is the point where three provinces, Chimbu, Jiwaka and Madang, meet. The peak is also known as Enduwa Kombuglu, or Kombugl'o Dimbin, in the local Kuman. The mountain is on the island of New Guinea, which incorporates Papua New Guinea and the Indonesian province of Papua. It is surpassed by Puncak Jaya, , and several other peaks in Indonesian Papua. Mount Wilhelm may be considered the highest mountain in Oceania (including Australia and New Zealand). A Seven Summits list may therefore sometimes include Mount Wilhelm. Mount Wilhelm received its name in 1888 when a German newspaper correspondent, Hugo Zöller, climbed the Finisterre Range, south-east of Madang, and named the Bismarck Range after the German Chancellor, Otto von Bismarck, and the four highest peaks of the range after him and his children: Ottoberg, Herbertberg, Marienberg and Wilhelmberg. Ottoberg seemed to Zöller to be the highest of the range, but it was later discovered to be only and the distant Wilhelmberg was much taller. It was not until August 1938 when Leigh Vial, a government patrol officer, and two Niu Ginians, his "Mangi mastas", "Namba Wan Bare Kuakawa" (Kugl'kane) and "Gend" ("Mondia Nigle"), made the first recorded ascent. It was noted by Vial that even though the mountain was close to the equator, snow existed on top of the mountain during his ascent. During the Second World War in the early hours of May 22, 1944, an American F-7A (a converted B-24 Liberator) named "Under Exposed" crashed into the mountain while it was flying too low. The aircraft left from Nadzab airbase, close to Lae, and had been assigned for a reconnaissance mission to photograph Padaidori Island in Dutch New Guinea. Around 0400 the plane crashed into Wilhelm at about above the twin lakes. All of the crew were killed, and most of the wreckage landed in the highest lake although some can still be seen.