Lae War Cemetery a WW11 icon of Papua New Guinea

By RONALD BULUM

 

In the solemn beauty of the Lae War Memorial lay nearly 2000 officers, men, and servicewomen who died in New Guinea on land, at sea, and in the air, but to whom the fortune of war denied the known and honoured burial given their comrades in death.

On the brass plaque of a gravestone of one, 401679 Flight Lieutenant E R Staley, Royal Australian Air Force, who died on 31 Dec 1943, the epitaph reads: “Dearly loved ... ever remembered.”

 Beside him: “One of nature’s gentlemen, loved by all” is attributed to Pte L R Poole 2/12 Infantry Battalion, who on 21 Jan 1944, died, aged 31.

There were many of men 10 years younger.

The young soldier may have died in one of the many battlegrounds in Morobe. It could have been Salamaua, Wau, or Finschhafen, where fighting were the heaviest.

He was the child of a paranoid era.

When he was just about to enter school, he may have been one of those that mamma sat on the dinner table and showed newspaper advertisements to which a picture of a father sitting in an armchair with his daughter on his lap and son on the floor playing with toy soldiers.

Lining the toy soldiers with a cannon at the back of his battle field, he would hear mamma read the caption: “Daddy, what did YOU do in the Great War?”

Such a challenge bore deep into his spongy mind.

From that very early age, his mind was shaped to be a brave patriot.

He thought that being in greens and going off to war was a heroic move. 

For the fathers and uncles and cousins, it was a challenge that had tormenting implications. They thought that, after the war was over, they might face the shame of having to admit that they dodged their responsibilities.

The adult men enlisted with almost fanatical enthusiasm.

History has recorded that despite stringent physical and medical standards being applied, hundreds of volunteers were in fact turned away, many of them almost in tears.

There was an oversupply of volunteers. By December 1914 over 52 560 men had been accepted for enlistment – in excess of the 20 000 offered by the Australian Government to the Imperial Forces.

News of the Gallipoli landing in April 1915, and the mixed emotions of excitement, pride and shock that ensued, a second wave of intense recruiting activity occurred.

“Such was the pride in the deeds of the ANZACs that the recruitment campaigns over the months of July, August and September 1915 gathered in additional 78 860 volunteers,” Russell Cowie noted in his book, Obedience or Choice.

Being a child in any era, the impact of one’s surroundings and particularly events of such magnitude, would have greatly affected the little boy’s mind.

It was thus easy to be drawn into a national mood that would have a large bearing later in adulthood.

They saw a wide range of methods for persuading or shaming their fathers and elder brothers and cousins being pursued by patriotic women’s groups.

They thought that when they grew up healthy and strong, they would not need to be called “eligibles” – a term that suggested delaying or avoiding duty.

They didn’t want to be called “cold footed shirkers”, “slackers”, and “loafers” and “dodgers” by women.

Such public pressure on men grew from shirking to become every boy’s hated term – coward.

So a quarter of a century later, when another opportunity to prove their worth and avoid being delivered a white feather, came during WWII in New Guinea, they enlisted.

For glory in death, their mark is left at the Lae War Cemetery of the Botanical Gardens.

Ad majorem dei gloriam.

In Flanders Fields

By John McCrae (1915)

 

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

 

We are the Dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders fields.

 

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields

Anzac on the Wall will move you to tears

One of the most-touching poems I have ever read was sent to me this week by a friend in Australia and former Papua New Guinea kiap Paul Oates.

Simply titled, Anzac on the Wall, the poem tells of a young Australian John Francis Stuart and the heartbreaking story of how he left his widowed-mother and fiancée behind to join the famous Light Horse Brigade during World War 1 at Beersheba.

The Battle of Beersheba took place on October 31, 1917, as part of the Sinai and Palestine campaign during WWI.

The highlight of the battle was the now-famous charge of the Australian 4th Light Horse Brigade, which covered some six kilometres to overrun and capture the last remaining Turkish trenches, and secure the surviving wells at Beersheba.

This elegy marking ANZAC Day is written by the very-talented poet Jim Brown, who lives in Victoria, and only came into prominence when he won first place for 'original performance' of this poem at the 2005 Victorian Bush Poetry Championships.

Surprisingly, many Australians, including my friend Paul, do not know who the author is, despite being moved to tears by the poem.

I did an online search, and went as far as sending Jim Brown an email, however, he had not replied in time for publication.

However, he says in interview published online: “The story behind The Anzac on the Wall is that I was a TV journalist and, in 1990, went to Gallipoli to cover the 90th anniversary of the Anzac landing.

“Before I went, I visited the Military archives in Canberra looking for photos for a documentary film, and a lovely old man put a cardboard box in front of me which contained letters written to and from the war front.

“The letters could not be identified, and therefore could be returned to the families.

“I made notes at the time and later in life became a bush poet.

“The trigger for the poem was the photograph of the Anzac on the Wall, which I have in my possession and carry it with me when I perform the poem.

“The photo led me to incorporate the information I had gleaned from the letters.

“ The suffering of those waiting at home had not been written about enough, and time and again it seemed that those close to the land knew the very instant they had lost a loved one on the other side of the world.

“From those letters I wrote about the lightning storm, the horse bolting etc.

“I am humbled by the fact that so many people have been moved by the poem, especially around Anzac Day.”

 

Anzac on the wall

 

I wandered thru a country town, 'cos I had some time to spare,

And went into an antique shop to see what was in there.

Old Bikes and pumps and kero lamps, but hidden by it all,

A photo of a soldier boy - an Anzac on the Wall.

 

"The Anzac have a name?" I asked. The old man answered "No,

The ones who could have told me mate, have passed on long ago.

The old man kept on talking and, according to his tale,

The photo was unwanted junk bought from a clearance sale.

"I asked around," the old man said, "but no one knows his face,

He's been on that wall twenty years... deserves a better place.

For some one must have loved him, so it seems a shame somehow."

 

I nodded in agreement and then said, “I'll take him now."

 

My nameless digger's photo, well it was a sorry sight

A cracked glass pane and a broken frame - I had to make it right

To prise the photo from its frame I took care just in case,

Cause only sticky paper held the cardboard back in place.

I peeled away the faded screed and much to my surprise,

Two letters and a telegram appeared before my eyes

The first reveals my Anzac's name, and regiment of course

John Mathew Francis Stuart - of Australia’s own Light Horse.

This letter written from the front...  my interest now was keen

This note was dated August seventh 1917

"Dear Mum, I'm at Khalasa Springs not far from the Red Sea

They say it's in the Bible - looks like a Billabong to me.

 

"My Kathy wrote I'm in her prayers...  she's still my bride to be

I just can’t wait to see you both, you're all the world to me.

And Mum you'll soon meet Bluey, last month they shipped him out

I told him to call on you when he's up and about."

"That bluey is a larrikin, and we all thought it funny

He lobbed a Turkish hand grenade into the Co's dunny.

I told you how he dragged me wounded, in from no man's land

He stopped the bleeding closed the wound with only his bare hand."

"Then he copped it at the front from some stray shrapnel blast

It was my turn to drag him in and I thought he wouldn't last.

 

He woke up in hospital, and nearly lost his mind

Cause out there on the battlefield he'd left one leg behind."

"He's been in a bad way Mum, he knows he'll ride no more

Like me he loves a horse's back, he was a champ before.

So Please Mum can you take him in, he's been like my own brother

Raised in a Queensland orphanage, he’s never known a mother."

 

But Struth, I miss Australia Mum, and in my mind each day

I am a mountain cattleman on high plains far away.

I'm mustering white-faced cattle, with no camel's hump in sight

And I waltz my Matilda by a campfire every night

I wonder who rides Billy, I heard the pub burnt down

I'll always love you and please say hooroo to all in town".

 

The second letter I could see, was in a lady's hand

An answer to her soldier son there in a foreign land.

Her copperplate was perfect, the pages neat and clean

It bore the date, November 3rd 1917.

"T'was hard enough to lose your Dad, without you at the war

I'd hoped you would be home by now - each day I miss you more"

 

"Your Kathy calls around a lot since you have been away

To share with me her hopes and dreams about your wedding day.

And Bluey has arrived - and what a godsend he has been

We talked and laughed for days about the things you've done and seen"

"He really is a comfort, and works hard around the farm,

I read the same hope in his eyes that you won't come to harm.

Mc Connell's kids rode Billy, but suddenly that changed.

We had a violent lightning storm, and it was really strange."

"Last Wednesday, just on midnight, not a single cloud in sight,

It raged for several minutes, it gave us all a fright.

It really spooked your Billy - and he screamed and bucked and reared

And then he rushed the sliprail fence, which by a foot he cleared"

 

"They brought him back next afternoon, but something's changed I fear

It's like the day you brought him home, for no one can get near.

Remember when you caught him with his black and flowing mane?

Now Horse breakers fear the beast that only you can tame,"

 

"That's why we need you home son" - then the flow of ink went dry-

 

This letter was unfinished, and I couldn't work out why.

Until I started reading, the letter number three

A yellow telegram delivered news of tragedy,

Her son killed in action - oh - what pain that must have been

The Same date as her letter - 3rd November 17

This letter which was never sent, became then one of three

She sealed behind the photo's face - the face she longed to see.

And John's home town's old timers - children when he went to war

Would say no greater cattleman had left the town before.

 

They knew his widowed mother well - and with respect did tell

How when she lost her only boy she lost her mind as well.

 

She could not face the awful truth, to strangers she would speak

"My Johnny's at the war you know, he's coming home next week."

They all remembered Bluey he stayed on to the end.

A younger man with wooden leg became her closest friend.

And he would go and find her when she wandered old and weak

And always softly say "yes dear - John will be home next week."

Then when she died Bluey moved on, to Queensland some did say.

I tried to find out where he went, but don't know to this day.

 

And Kathy never wed - a lonely spinster some found odd.

She wouldn't set foot in a church - she'd turned her back on God.

John's mother left no Will I learned on my detective trail.

This explains my photo's journey, of that clearance sale.

So I continued digging, cause I wanted to know more.

I found John's name with thousands, in the records of the war.

His last ride proved his courage - a ride you will acclaim

The Light Horse Charge at Beersheba of everlasting fame.

That last day in October back in 1917

At 4pm our brave boys fell - that sad fact I did glean.

That's when John's life was sacrificed, the record's crystal clear

 

But 4pm in Beersheba is midnight over here......

So as John's gallant sprit rose to cross the great divide,

Were lightning bolts back home, a signal from the other side?

Is that why Billy bolted and went racing as in pain?

Because he’d never feel his master on his back again?

Was it coincidental? same time - same day - same date?

Some proof of numerology, or just a quirk of fate?

 

I think it's more than that you know, as I've heard wiser men,

Acknowledge there are many things that go beyond our ken

Where craggy peaks guard secrets neath dark skies torn asunder,

Where hoofbeats are companions to the rolling waves of thunder

Where lightning cracks like 303's and ricochets again

Where howling moaning gusts of wind sound just like dying men

Some Mountain cattlemen have sworn on lonely alpine track,

They've glimpsed a huge black stallion - Light Horseman on his back.

Yes Sceptics say, it's swirling clouds just forming apparitions

Oh no, my friend you can't dismiss all this as superstition.

The desert of Beersheba - or windswept Aussie range,

John Stuart rides on forever there - Now I don't find that all

strange.

 

Now some gaze upon this photo, and they often question me

And I tell them a small white lie, and say he's family.

"You must be proud of him." they say - I tell them, one and all,

That's why he takes - the pride of place - my Anzac on the Wall

 

 

 

Port Moresby’s fascinating WW11 history

Long before the arrival of the white man, the Motuan people of the area now known as Port Moresby, traded their pots for sago, other food and canoe logs, with their partners from the Gulf of Papua.
They sailed from Hanuabada and other villages, built on silts above the waters of the bay.
They also intermarried with the Gulf people and created strong family and trade links.
The Hiri expeditions were large-scale.
As many as 20 multi-hulled canoes or lakatoi, crewed by some 600 men, carried about 20,000 clay pots on each journey.
To the Motuans, the Hiri was not only an economic enterprise but they also confirmed their identity as a tribe because of the long and dangerous voyages.
These voyages are commemorated in modern times by the annual Hiri Moale Festival held at Ela Beach in September.
The area was already an important trade centre by the time Captain John Moresby, of HMS Basilisk, first identified the area of the site later to become known as Port Moresby.
The Englishman had just ventured through the Coral Sea at the eastern end of New Guinea and upon encountering three previously unknown islands landed there.
At 10 o’clock in the morning of the 20th February, 1873, he claimed the land for Britain and named it after his father, Admiral Sir Fairfax Moresby.
He called the inner reach "Fairfax Harbour" and the other “Port Moresby”.
Actual European settlement of the site did not occur until a decade later when the south-eastern part of New Guinea island was annexed to British Empire.
British New Guinea was passed to the newly established Commonwealth of Australia in 1906, and became known as Papua. From then until 1941 Port Moresby grew slowly.
The main growth was on the peninsula, where port facilities and other services were gradually improved.
Electricity was introduced in 1925 and piped water supply was provided in 1941.
Japan had been on the roll since the early 1930s with the rise of Japanese Imperialism.
Japanese troops invaded Manchuria in 1933, China in 1934, and then came into the South Pacific by attacking Pearl Harbour on December 7, 1941.
The ambitious Japanese wanted a stranglehold of the South Pacific, including Australia.
The former Australian territory of Papua, which comprises the south-eastern portion of the island of New Guinea and some groups of small islands, is separated from the Australian mainland only by the 145 kilometre-wide Torres Straits.
Port Moresby, the most important centre, has a good harbour on the Gulf of Papua and its situation so close to the Australian mainland makes it eminently suitable as a naval and military base for operations in the south-west Pacific.
It became a vital point to hold when the Japanese invaded New Guinea.
On January 23, 1942, the Japanese landed at Kavieng on New Ireland and at Rabaul on New Britain where they quickly overcame the Australian defenders, with the ultimate objective of taking Port Moresby.
Before WWII, Port Moresby was a small administrative center for the Australian territories of Papua and New Guinea.
During the war it was the strategic objective of the Japanese during the Battle of Coral Sea and the overland during the Kokoda Trail campaign.
Japanese invasion attempts were unsuccessful, but the area was subjected to many air attacks.
Japanese air raids against Port Moresby started on February 2, 1942, and continued until April 12, 1943 (plus later nighttime harassment raids).
The area became a major American and Australian staging area and airfield complex in support of the Allied push to the north of New Guinea, including Kokoda and Buna/Gona.
The Battle of the Coral Sea from May 5 to 8 averted a Japanese sea borne invasion of Port Moresby and the American success at the Battle of Midway in June not only destroyed Japan's capacity for undertaking long range offensives but also provided the Americans with the opportunity to move from the defensive to the offensive.
The Japanese, who were regularly bombing Port Moresby with 20 to 30 bombers with fighter escort, decided on the overland attack across the Owen Stanley Range.
It was on July 21, 1942, that Japanese troops landed on the northern coast of then New Guinea and unexpectedly began to march over the Owen Stanley Ranges with the intent of capturing Port Moresby.
It was out of here that the Australian 7th Division resisted the Japanese General Horii's overland attempt to capture Port Moresby, and the advance was halted within 30 miles of the city.
Had the Japanese succeeded, the mainland of Australia would have come under dire threat.
Nearly the entire city has some connections with World War II
These include Port Moresby (Town) Prewar town and wharf area; Konedobu Northern area of the town; Kaevaga North of Konedobu ; Waigani former 5-Mile Wards Drome and the PNG goverment headquarters; Gordons South-east of Waigani PNG Modern History Museum; Boroko Located to the east of town ; Gerehu Area to the north of the present day University of PNG; Kila Kila East of Port Moresby town, former 3-Mile Drome; Mount Lawes Peak behind Port Moresby; Fairfax Harbor Port Moresby's Harbor; Bootless Bay Inlet to the east of Port Moresby; Idlers Bay Inlet to the west of Port Moresby, Roku village; Joyce Bay Bay to the east of Port Moresby, Local Island
By 1944, Port Moresby had six airfields. Jackson was the largest, and was named after Australian ace pilot John Jackson, leader of RAAF Squadron 75, who was killed in a dogfight against Japanese planes over Port Moresby on April 28, 1942.
Wartime airfields in the area included the following:Kila Drome (3 Mile) Airfield for fighters and bombers; Ward Drome (5 Mile) Airfield for heavy bombers and transport planes; Jackson Airport (7 Mile) Main airfield still in use today by Air Niugini; Berry Drome (12 Mile) Fighter and medium bomber base near Bomana; Schwimmer (14 Mile) Fighter and medium bomber base; Durand Airstrip (17 Mile) Fighter and medium bomber base; Rogers (Rarona, 30 Mile) Fighter and medium bomber base; Fisherman's (Daugo) Emergency landing strip on off shore island
There are a number of abandoned gun emplacements, bunkers and fortifications. These were constructed by Australian Engineers in 1944, but never used, then abandoned after the war.
Basalisk Battery Largest, three gun battery to the west of Moresby ; Paga Hill Battery Gun battery and radar set location hill outside Moresby ; Gemo Island Battery Gun position on offshore island, overlooking the east ; Bootless Bay Battery Gun position at Bootless Bay; Boera Battery Gun position west of Port Moresby

Below is a timeline of major events in the Japanese bid to take Port Moresby

03/02/1942 Japanese air raids begin on Port Moresby.

10/03/1942 Japanese aircraft attack Port Moresby.

23/03/1942 Port Moresby is again attacked by Japanese aircraft.

04/05/1942 The Japanese Port Moresby invasion force leaves Rabaul, in New Britain.

19/07/1942 Japanese invasion fleet leaves Rabaul for Buna, New Guinea.

21/07/1942 Japanese land at Buna.

26/08/1942 Two thousand Japanese land at Milne Bay, South East of Port Moresby and advance up Kokoda Trail.

06/09/1942 Australians force total Japanese evacuation of Milne Bay, with just 1,000 troops surviving to be evacuated.

08/09/1942 Japanese advance from Kokoda to the Owen Stanley Mountain Range in an overland drive for Port Moresby, New Guinea.

11/09/1942 Japanese drive halted by Australians at loribaiwa, just 32 miles from Port Moresby.

McDonald’s Corner and Owers’ Corner

Visitors looking at the Kokoda Trail from Owers' Corner

Visitors having lunch at Owers' Corner

Visitors check out a replica of the 25-pounder gun at Owers' Corner

Visitor reading the storyboard at Owers' Corner

Storyboard at Owers' Corner

Signpost at Ilolo near Owers' Corner

McDonald's Corner down from Owers' Corner

Information about Captain Noel Owers at Owers' Corner

Having lunch at Owers Corners

A replica of the 25-pounder gun at Owers' Corner

Continuing the series in the lead-up to ANZAC Day on April 25, this time, we look at two WW11 icons of Papua New Guinea, McDonald’s Corner and Owers’ Corner...

McDonald’s Corner and Owers’ Corner, further in from Sogeri, have always been a favorite place for many residents of Port Moresby.
They are famously known as the beginning of the Kokoda Trail and are visited by thousands of tourists, mainly Australians, every year.
Enjoying a cold beer after a hard couple of days on the Kokoda Trail has always been part of the routine for these trekkers.
Enjoying a family picnic at Owers’ Corner under the blue sky, white clouds, majestic mountains and lush, green environment is a moment to treasure.
McDonald’s and Owers’ Corners, for many years, have been a means of escaping from the sweltering heat and scorched landscape of Port Moresby.
While Moresby is dry as a bone for over six months of the year, these places, invariably, are moist and green and the mountain air cooler.
The mountains, foothills, forests, savannah woodland, rivers and streams have long captured the imagination of many.
It goes without saying that when one goes to McDonald’s and Owers’ corners, one returns to the city very much relaxed, and reinvigorated.
They are very much among the many jewels in PNG’s crown.

McDonald’s Corner

The beginning of the Kokoda Track

In July and August 1942 McDonald's Corner was recognised as the beginning of the Kokoda Track and there is now a memorial at the site as well as a sign announcing the beginning of the "Kokoda Trail".
Nearby was the village of Ilolo, and it was here in July 1942 that officers of the Australian and New Guinea Administrative Unit (ANGAU), such as Lieutenant Herbert Kienzle and his medical officer, the elderly Captain Geoffrey Vernon, brought together the groups of native carriers who were needed to support the Australian advance into the mountains.
Ilolo is reached by a road that leaves Port Moresby and winds its way 40km up a steep hill, past the Rouna Falls and onto the high plateau which includes the Itiki Valley and the Sogeri River.
This area provides a slightly cooler climate and in 1942 was considered suitable for training of the units about to cross the mountains.
Later it became a retraining and rest area for units that had fought on the Track.
It was also the site of a number of military hospitals.
From Ilolo, Lieutenant Kienzle set out with his carriers to establish a series of staging camps along the Kokoda Track to support the troops of the 39th and later the 53rd Battalions.
Staging camps were established at approximately 16km intervals, which meant that the troops would take about eight days to cross the mountains to Kokoda.
Many of the troops who fought on the Kokoda Track have clear memories of Ilolo, and McDonald's Corner - a short distance beyond where they disembarked from their trucks before beginning the march.
The first unit over the mountains, B Company 39th Battalion, under Captain Sam Templeton, left Ilolo on July 7, 1942.
C Company of the Battalion began the trek on July 23.
The first company of the 53rd Battalion left Ilolo on August 11 and the first elements of the 2/14th Battalion began moving on 16 August.
Later an effort was made to push the road beyond Ilolo and a jeep track was constructed to Owers' Corner, but still the troops disembarked at McDonald's Corner.
The first company of the 2/33rd Battalion departed McDonald's Corner on September 10. Eventually, as the track was improved, more troops could be carried forward to Owers' Corner and thus McDonald's Corner lost some of its importance.
It is still regarded, however, as the beginning of the Kokoda Track.
Beyond Ilolo, the first staging camp at the end of a day's journey, was the village of Uberi.

Owers’ Corner

The end of the Jeep Track

Late in August 1942, Lieutenant Noel Owers, with a small survey party, was looking for an alternative route forward of Ilolo by which the troops on the Kokoda Track might more easily be supplied.
The jeep track only ever reached as far as the point which became known as Owers' Corner, and then gave way to a foot track which wound down a steep slope towards Uberi.
During the month of September 1942, two 25 pounder field guns of the 14th Australian Field Regiment were brought forward to Owers' Corner, where they were manhandled into firing positions.
This was the only allied Field Artillery used during the Kokoda Track campaign to support the out gunned and greatly out numbered Infantry.
This action assisted in halting the Japanese advance just 48km from Port Moresby; so began the Japanese retreat.
The terrain was almost impassable for Infantry let alone Artillery.
A third 25 pounder field gun was dismantled and manhandled to Peg 66 beyond Uberi.
The Regiment was assisted in reaching their firing position by a Platoon of the 2/1st Pioneer Battalion.
However, by then the Japanese had withdrawn beyond the range of the gun.
Following the action at Owers' Corner from to September 22-28, 1942, the Commander Royal Artillery 7th Division, Brigadier L.S. Barker despatched the following:
"The ejection of the enemy from Ioribaiwa Ridge indicates a turning point in the battle for Port Moresby. The success of our forces was due in no small part to the action of 53rd Field Battery, 14th Field Regiment in bringing fire to bear on the enemy position which they had every reason to consider was safe from artillery fire.
“The manner in which difficulties were overcome in bringing guns into action at Owers' Corner and later in taking guns forward to Uberi is another example of the aptness of the gunner motto, "UBIQUE".
“The accuracy of the fire brought down at extreme range indicates that the personnel who served the guns are maintaining that standard of efficiency which is recognised as inherent in gunner units.
“Special mention must be made of the early reconnaissance of the area and the accurate observation of fire by the Troop Commander, Captain J.P. Cullen who has been mention in despatches.
“The action of the unit in taking a gun to pieces to manhandle it up and down he steep hillsides of Uberi indicates that the Militia soldier is fully alive to the resourcefulness expected from gunners. The task of getting this gun forward was facilitated by the good work of 5 Platoon 2/1st Pioneer Battalion who improved and prepared the track.
“The CRA desires to congratulate the officers and men who took part in the actual action, on their fine achievement and that he feels confident of the good work which will be carried out in future by the 14th Field Regiment and wishes them every success in the campaign ahead.”
All units which participated in the Owen Stanley Campaign between McDonald's Corner and Kokoda, passed through Owers' Corner.
Later as the counter offensive was under way, on October 3, Generals MacArthur, Blamey, Herring and Kenney accompanied by the Minister for the Army, Mr F.M.Forde, visited Owers' Corner as the 16th Brigade began their move towards the objective, Kokoda.
General MacArthur told Brigadier J.E. Lloyd the commander, "Lloyd, by some act of God, your Brigade has been chosen for this job. The eyes of the Western world are upon you. I have every confidence in you and your men, good luck, don't stop."

Agriculture show to focus on climate change

By SENIORL ANZU

 

Climate change will be the focus of this year’s Agricultural Innovations Show planned for Tuesday, May 5, at Bubia near Lae.

 Displays and presentations during this annual event will be made on issues surrounding this global phenomenon, its impact on PNG agriculture, and initiatives undertaken by National Agriculture Research Institute and its collaborators to tackle different aspects of the climate change problem in the country.

Accordingly, the theme for this year’s occasion will be ‘Adapting PNG Agriculture to Climate Change’.

NARI scientists are well into their preparations.

A range of information resources on climate change will be showcased to create awareness and educate the farmers and the general public.

Such resources will be in leaflets, posters, videos and CDs highlighting the global changes and scenarios, including global warming and El Niño and La Niña events, their effects on agricultural farming systems and livelihoods of Papua New Guineans, and strategies on how the country can respond to global warming and possible droughts brought on by El Niño.

PNG, situated on the western rim of the tropical pacific, has already suffered from:

·        The effects of rising sea levels with some small island communities evacuating,;

·        Extremes in rainfall intensities linked to La Nina Southern Oscillation events causing floods and landslides;

·        Widespread food shortage resulting from drought conditions in 1997;

·        Threats to food and cash crop production posed by pests and diseases like the late blight on potato and leaf scab on sweet potato; and

·        Increased incidence of malaria in the PNG highlands due to warmer temperatures.

NARI director-general Dr Raghunath Ghodake recently called for PNG to develop a multidimensional strategy to adapt to climate change and mitigate its impacts on agriculture and food security in the country.

He stressed that: “The country requires a multi-pronged strategy in the areas of agricultural research for development, policy and resource support, and strategic and effective implementation.”

In response to the threat of climate change, a series of projects have been jointly implemented and/or developed by various Australian and PNG institutions and NARI. These projects are in the areas of early warning system, crop and genotype diversification, biotechnology targeting of pests and disease, dissemination and adaptation of drought-coping strategies, and sustainable water supply.

 Much of these will be shown during the innovations show.

Dr Ghodake said PNG must take the initiative and urgently address the imminent impacts of climate change on the nation’s food and water security.

He also stressed that PNG must make a strategic investment by accepting and implementing agriculture as a development agenda for the well-being of the people and prosperity of the nation.

 

Papua New Guinea Forest Research Institute to celebrates its 20th anniversary

The Papua New Guinea Forest Research Institute (PNGFRI) will be celebrating its 20th anniversary on Thursday, April 30, 2009.

The PNGFRI is a collaborating organisation associated with the formulation and implementation of policies, strategies and programs which have aided Papua New Guinea in its national development initiatives.

The event will showcase some of the highlights of achievements attained over the last 20 years by the institute on forest research carried out in PNG as well as in the Pacific Region.

Some of the main highlights of the day will be seminar presentations, field trips and demonstration, launching of the PNGFRI’s first teacher’s manual which is a guideline book for teachers in primary and secondary schools to use in educating children on the importance of conservation, and exhibitions and displays of various palms of New Guinea and collections of rare orchids and plants.

 

Review of The Battle for Wau: New Guinean's Frontline, 1942-1943

By Assistant Professor Jamon Halvaksz
University of Texas at San Antonio

There are a number of battlefields that continue to remind us of the sacrifices and struggles that took place throughout the Pacific during World War II.
We often think of Guadalcanal, Coral Sea, Midway and Kokoda as sacred spaces where lives were lost and victories secured. 
Phillip Bradley’s new book, The Battle for Wau: New Guinean’s Frontline, 1942-1943 (Cambridge University Press, 2008), reminds us of another important conflict in the Allied effort.
Having failed to take Port Moresby in the Battle of the Coral Sea and along the Kokoda Trail, Japanese forces were sent from Rabaul to Salamaua and Lae. 
Wau became the barrier for a final push across New Guinea and initially only a small force stood in the way.
 However, ANZAC forces combined with American airpower to ensure that this did not happen; that Wau did not fall. 
Bradley’s book is a well-researched account of this decisive battle and the efforts of Kanga Force, an independent company combining New Guinea Volunteer Rifles and parts of the Australian 1st and 2/5th Independent Companies. 
While many women and children were evacuated as Japanese forces advanced onto New Guinea, Kanga Force was mobilised to ensure that Wau and its significant airstrip remained in Allied hands.
Bradley’s account begins in 1942 with the Japanese invasion of Lae and Salamaua, and then follows Kanga Force’s formation and subsequent raids on Japanese positions along the coast.
 He then takes us through a detailed account of battles and skirmishes as the Japanese moved toward the Bulolo Valley along old mining trails, before recounting the final battle and the stunning air transport of the 17th Infantry Brigade into Wau. 
On 29 January 1943, as Japanese pressed toward the airfield, fifty-nine flights made it into Wau carrying 814 reinforcements and additional supplies.
 Under fire as they made their daring landings on what remains a unique airstrip, it was this strategic move that proved decisive.
 Wau was protected and a significantly reduced Japanese force retreated toward Mubo and Salamaua.
As the book combines carefully examined archival research with interviews and private letters held by the families of those who fought, the strength of the text rests on the fleshing out of the men who were willing to sacrifice their lives on the kunai fields and in the dense forests between Salamaua and Wau.
Their heroic and self-sacrificing efforts are well served by this text as Bradley fills in the detailed description of each battle with the personalities that fought them.
While the author does include numerous Australian, American and Japanese sources, what is really lacking are detailed accounts of Wau’s local populations, as well as the many laborers from all over the island. 
They carried supplies and fought alongside the ANZAC forces Bradley tells us. 
And he is not insensitive to the role that people from throughout New Guinea played in the conflict, having spent time trekking along the Black Cat trail and Skin Diwai, exploring the locations of the conflict with local guides to get a sense of the places.  While he rightfully credits the victory to the troops, he acknowledges that the “ability of the ANGAU personnel to gain the trust and devotion of significant numbers of local carriers was a significant factor in this campaign and those that followed” (pg 240).
I know from the accounts and stories of Biangai and Watut who live in Wau today that the local reaction to the fighting varied. 
Some did flee, some helped where they could, and others served as carriers, but a significant group also fought alongside Kanga Force.
It’s an important part of history that Bradley can only hint at, and waits for Papua New Guinean historians to explore.

http://www.amazon.com/Battle-Wau-Frontline-1942-1943-Australian/dp/0521896819

Walking the Kokoda Trail

Trekkers at Kokoda before departing on the journey of a lifetime

The four granite sentinels at Isurava

The author (right) with his faithful guide Kevau

Rotunda at Isurava

Porter Paul urges on exhausted trekker Amelia

Australia and Papua New Guinea flags fly high at Isurava

The Kokoda Trail is the most-famous walking track in Papua New Guinea, and played a significant role in World War 11, and to this day remains one of the WW11 icons of PNG.I walked the trail in 2003 and found it to be one of toughest things I’d done in my life. This is the story of my 2003 trek...

As I struggled up the grueling last climb from Goldie River to Ower's Corner, finally reaching the top at exactly 10.45am on Saturday, June 7, 2003, I staggered on to the memorial arch, punched the air, and tears started uncontrollably streaming down my eyes.
Exhilaration filled my heart as I felt what Sir Edmund Hillary must have felt 50 years ago when he was the first to climb Mount Everest.
And the words of that great man, which I had read time and again in my build - up towards walking the Kokoda Trail, reverberated through my whole being:" It is not the mountains we conquer, but ourselves."
The sense of achievement, of having overcome adversity after being through the most - excruciating physical pain in my life, overwhelmed me.
I had become ill with flu and malaria along the grueling WW11 trail, had inflamed both knees that I could hardly walk and was on the verge of being airlifted out, but had overcome these to complete the trek in seven days
Fears about the trek, hopes about reaching the end of the journey, at first seemed insurmountable; but they were met and conquered.
It brought out of me hidden physical and mental reserves that I never knew that I had!
Walking the Kokoda Trail made me envision the journey of life itself beginning with one small step, followed by another and another, until somehow, with time, you ultimately reach the pinnacle by taking it step after painful step.
And I now know that although there will be many more mountains to climb and rivers to cross in my life, I will be stronger because of "the spirit of Kokoda".
I was part of a group of 19 - nine trekkers (eight Australians and myself), nine porters and a guide - who walked the Kokoda Trail from June 1 to 7, 2003.
We left Port Moresby at 9.55am on Saturday, May 31, 2003, on an Airlines of PNG Twin Otter piloted by the experienced Captain Michael Butler, flying over the spectacular Owen Stanley Ranges starting from Sogeri on through the Kokoda Gap into rural Kokoda which we arrived in at 10.20am.
Kokoda is a sleepy little outback town whose serenity completely belies what happened there 61 years ago.
The Japanese captured Kokoda on July 28, 1942, and advanced over the Owen Stanley Ranges towards Port Moresby.
Australian soldiers delayed and finally halted the enemy at Ioribaiwa Ridge on September 26, 1942.
The 7th Australian Division began an offensive, which drew the enemy back through Kokoda to the coast, around Buna, where Australian and American troops combined to destroy the entire Japanese force.
We had a look around the Kokoda War Museum, memorials, and the Australian - funded hospital before trekking off to Hoi village at 12pm.
Hoi, an hour's walk from Kokoda, is a clean, well - kept village besides a clean mountain stream.
We overnighted there amidst thousands of fireflies lighting up the night.
We left Hoi at 9am on Sunday, June 1, for the start of our exhaustive week - long trek.
From the onset, I realised that I had not done sufficient training, as the strain of mountain climbing and equally stressful descents started to take their toll.
We had a break from 10.30am till 12pm besides a cool mountain stream, before trudging on to Isurava, arriving there at 2pm.
Isurava, which Australian Prime Minister John Howard visited in August 2002 to open the magnificent war memorial, was the site of a significant WW11 battle and now one of the most - sacred sites along the trail.
The four-day Battle of Isurava along the Kokoda Trail in 1942 would not, in isolation, be regarded as a victory for Australian forces.
During the period from 27-30 August 1942, under almost constant attack, soldiers of the 39th Australian Militia Battalion and the 2/14th Battalion, Second Australian Imperial Force, with the help of the 2/16th Battalion and the 53rd Battalions, held back the advancing Japanese at Isurava.

It was here that Private Bruce Kingsbury of the 2/14th Battalion was post - humously awarded the first Victorial Cross ever won on Australian territory, as Papua then was, for bravery.
On Monday, June 2, we left Isurava at 7am for the next village of Alola, which we arrived in at 8.30am.
After a brief stop for fruit and vegetables, it was more descending and ascending.
We had lunch at Eora Creek, by which time the beginnings of flu and malaria were beginning to make their presence felt.
The exhaustive climb and ensuring descent to Templeton's Crossing was an absolute nightmare as I struggled with flu and malaria, my knees and hips felt like they were going to pop out of their sockets, and I was constantly out of breath.
I stopped on several occasions, and at one stage even slept on a mat of leaves for a good 30 minutes, so as to regain my strength and energy.
As I wandered, zombie - like in a delirious state through the forest, my thoughts went to the most precious things in my life: my wife and two sons.
The two boys had been down with flu the night before I left for Kokoda, and I would have cancelled the trip, had it not been for the insistence of the wife.
All I could think about was the ice cream and pizza I would have with my two sons once I completed this hellish journey.
I arrived at Templeton's Crossing at 4pm, the very last person, and immediately dived into my sleeping bag in a feverish state.
I awoke later in the evening covered in the sweat of fever, had dinner, and went back to the sack under the forest canopy and millions of twinkling stars in the night sky.
I got up early the next morning, Tuesday, June 3, feeling much better and stronger than the previous day.
We started at 8am and struggled up Mount Bellamy, which at 2190 metres is the highest point of the trail, reaching the summit at 10am.
I felt as if I had climbed Everest!
From then on it was down, up, down, up, down, up, ad infinitum - on a painful left knee - until we took a detour from the main track to the village of Naduri.
One of the best villages along the trail, Naduri is the home of Ovuru Ndiki, one of the last surviving 'Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels'.
We had plenty of fresh bananas, oranges, mandarins, sugar fruit, kaukau, taro, and - needless to say - good sleep at Naduri.
Both knees started giving me problems when I started off at 7am on Wednesday, June 4, with Kevau, my personal guide and porter, who stood alongside me all the way.
Unlike the other guides and porters, who are all Koiaris, 19 - year - old Kevau is from Rigo in the Central Province and his father is the United Church pastor at Sogeri.
We took an exhaustive two - hour climb to Efogi No. 2 village, arriving at 9am, and then the steep and painful one - hour descent descent to Efogi.
At Efogi, we picked up much-needed food supplies, which had been dropped off a week earlier by chartered aircraft.
Efogi, like the other villages along the trail, do not have regular airline flights like in the past and chartered flights and helicopters only use its airstrip.
We had a good rest and lunch before Kevau and I started on the climb up Brigade Hill, little knowing that I was going to go through the most - hellish, painful experience in my life.
Climbing up the hill overlooking Efogi was a walk in the park; however, the same cannot be said for what ensued.
Climbing up to the top of Brigade Hill - which together with Isurava is one of the most sacred sites of the track - pain started in both knees.
I was in the most-excruciating agony, every step I took I felt a sharp knife driving through my knees, and I can honestly say now that I do not know where I found the mental and physical reserves to carry on.
I had read about the “pain barrier” of humans; now I was undergoing my own.
Brigade Hill down to the village of Menari is one of the steepest and most-tiresome descents of the trail, one, which I will always remember as the longest and most-painful walk in my life.
The body was screaming for mercy while the mind countered: "Go on Malum!"
To ask for help from the guides and porters would have been throwing in the towel.
It took me five agonising hours to hobble down from the top of Brigade Hill to Menari.
The considerate guides and porters rubbed hot leaves on my knees and with some powerful painkillers from Andrew, a South African who works as an IT specialist in Brisbane, and his lawyer girlfriend Amelia, the pain was alleviated to some degree.
Thursday, June 5, was I day I'll remember for all the wrong reasons, as it was pain, pain, pain all the way up the steep saddle and swampy, stinky, and muddy descent to Naoro village.
It was then that the guides and porters - by consensus - told me that they would have to radio for a helicopter to carry me out.
Who was I to argue with them? In the state I was in?
Before coming, friends, colleagues, and workmates had jokingly told me that I wouldn't make it; that I wasn't fit enough.
And now, my worst fears were about to come true: I wouldn't be able to complete Kokoda Trail! I would be the butt of jokes around the office! I'd die of shame!
More leaves and traditional medicine from the guides and porters, coupled with powerful painkilling and anti-inflammatory drugs from the Australian trekkers, and sprinkled with physical and mental reserves I never knew I had saw me make an amazing about turn.
I started walking at 4am on Friday, June 6 - for 12 straight hours - up the heartbreaking nine false peaks of the Maguli Range and then took the long, steep, and muddy descent to Ofi Creek where we spent the night.
Same story next day as I was up early, and with the finish line in sight, easily tackled the remaining steep hills, Ioribaiwa, Imita Ridge, and then descended 'The Golden Stairs' to Goldie River.
A last refreshing dip and I climbed up to Owers' Corner like a man possessed, reaching the top in record time ahead of everyone else.
Kokoda has made me realise many things.
I now better appreciate the rugged and heartbreaking terrain the Australians, the 'Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels', and the Japanese encountered during those dark days of WW11.
The hardships the forgotten Orokaiva and Koiari people who live on the mountains, ridges, and gullies of the Owen Stanley Ranges endure daily bring tears to your eyes.
The smiling, happy faces of children as they called out a “hello” to visitors - amidst these abject hardships - bring so much joy to your heart.
You find peace and beauty in nature, with answers to troubling questions being found on the wind, in the trees, in the song of birds, in the pure voice of an ever-flowing mountain stream splashing over the rocks, and in the stillness of the forest.
Being along the Kokoda Trail, one becomes aware of the infinite circle of life: there is evidence of decay, destruction and death; there are also examples of rejuvenation, restoration and renewal.
But most of all, it has shown me that the human spirit can triumph over adversity.
Do it again? Of course I will!