Ensuring their sacrifice is never forgotten

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TREKKING

Part 2: 100 Treks Across the Kokoda TrailCharlie Lynn continues his story

Charlie Lynn OAM, OL at the Kokoda Memorial Walkway, Sydney on Kokoda Day, Nov 3, 2019. His medals from left: Officer of Logohu, Order of Australia Medal, Australian Active Service Medal, Vietnam Active Service Medal, Australian Service Medal (SE Asia), Australian Efficiency Service Medal, National Medal of Service, Australian Defence Medal and National Service Medal. – Picture by GLENN ARMSTRONG.

MY first thoughts on the potential of a Kokoda pilgrimage as a leadership model came after observing our guides and carriers work together.
We faced many challenges in our early days of trekking due to the nature of the trail and the lack of bridges. When we came to a flooded river being pounded by white water as the result of heavy rain further up the mountain, the drill was to stop and wait so we could assess the situation. We would then agree on a plan and the boys would go into action. There was inevitably lots of yelling and arm-waving but when you looked through the clutter everybody was enthusiastically involved in the roles they were allocated. Trees were chopped, logs were hauled in and coils of bamboo gathered as it all came together.
What we were observing was ego-free, instinctive leadership and teamwork in action.
I therefore decided to weave that into a unique leadership programme.
The programme is based on the historical adversity of the Kokoda campaign. It’s not about victory or defeat – it’s about the ability of the human spirit to conquer adversity. It’s about understanding that their legacy is our liberty. It’s about the development of personal leadership.
For students in Australia it is a realisation that Papua New Guinea, which has been referred to as a ‘parliament of a thousand tribes’ in a ‘land of the unexpected’ is our closest neighbour; our former mandated territory; our wartime ally; and our fellow Commonwealth of Nations member.
We then developed a concept for a Youth Leadership Challenge which I took to the NSW RSL Services Clubs Association. The idea was based on individual clubs sponsoring young leaders from their area. They endorsed it and since then we have ‘graduated’ more than 600 young leaders and students from around NSW over the past decade.
More recently the Mayor of Canada Bay in Sydney, Angelo Tsikeros, a member of the board of the Kokoda Track Memorial Walkway at nearby Concord who has also trekked Kokoda half-a-dozen times, proposed that we include a Rusty Priest Scholarship Programme within the programme. Rusty was a former president of the NSW RSL and founding chairman of the board at the Walkway. The headmaster of Rosebank College at Five Dock, Tom Galea, supported the idea and they have been committed to the programme since 2017.
The results, from a personal and leadership development aspect, have far exceeded expectations. This is from one of the students who participated in the programme.
I had many goals for the Kokoda Trail – for example, ‘finish the trek uninjured’ was my main one. ‘Introduce myself and meet all the trekkers on day one’ was another (which I achieved quite well, before even getting on the plane to Papua New Guinea). ‘Don’t vomit’ was achieved, but only just. ‘Carry your weight the entire way’ – I had no choice but to relinquish this goal so as to assure I achieved the ‘don’t vomit’ goal. And then there was ‘don’t cry,’ and this would have been possible had I expanded it specifically to why I thought I could be crying – out of fear or hopelessness. I didn’t cry out of fear or hopelessness, I stayed positive the whole time. But I did cry.
You see, I never could have imagined how huge of an impact the history of the Kokoda Trail and the Kokoda Campaign could have had on me. I couldn’t understand how I would be affected by those stories until I was walking in the footsteps of our servicemen. The Kokoda Trail really forced me to dig deep and connect with the culture – both ours and Papua New Guinea’s – and led me to a new perspective of appreciation, about who we are as communities, and as nations, but most of all, as individuals. The mind is a powerful thing, and after hearing Charlie’s speeches about leadership potential and capability in young people – about the positivity in the world and one’s ability to make a difference – I feel really empowered and inspired to be something in my lifetime. I want to make a difference in at least one small way or another, and I know I will because I’m determined to see that happen. – Will S. 17 Years
I have a desire to expand the programme to include PNG secondary and tertiary students who will one day have important leadership roles in their country. The Kokoda Youth Leadership Challenge will allow them to extend their networks through establish friendships based on our shared wartime history.
The bond and drift between us
Prior to Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating’s visit to Kokoda for the 50th anniversary of the Kokoda campaign PNG did not seem to be on Australia’s radar. Since PNG’s independence in 1975 we stopped living in their villages, marrying into their tribes, and walking in their shoes. As a result, there has been an empathetic drift between us.
This has been compounded by our immigration policies that made it virtually impossible for many Papua New Guineans to come to Australia for seasonal work or even to visit kinfolk. In 2005 their founding father and Grand Chief, Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare was frisked by airport security guards in Brisbane. It was reported that when one of the guards asked for identification, Somare showed them a PGK50 note which has his photo on it. Australia refused to apologise.
My election to the NSW Parliament in September 1995 provided me with a new platform to campaign for proper recognition of the Kokoda campaign and more awareness of Papua New Guinea.
In late 2002 I received a call from a person who introduced himself as the Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister and Grand Chief of PNG, Sir Michael Somare. He informed me that he and Sir Michael were at the Sheraton On the Park hotel in Sydney and that he would like to see me.
This was certainly an unexpected bolt out of the blue however I reported to the hotel and was directed to Sir Michael’s suite where I met with the Grand Chief. We conversed for more than an hour on a wide range of topics relating to PNG and our relationship. He then advised that he would like me to arrange for him to meet with NSW Premier Bob Carr – the next day! I thought this might be a bit difficult to arrange as Bob and I were on opposite sides of the political fence and in fact he was Premier, and I was a backbencher on the lowest rung of the political totem pole. I also knew his diary would be blocked out at least a month ahead.
I called Bob’s director general, Dr Col Gellatly, who was known as a knockabout bloke albeit a very smart one. Col said, ‘leave it with me, Charlie’. The following day I met up with the Grand Chief and escorted him to meet with the Premier. We had a quick discussion about Kokoda before I left, and I understand a firm friendship was forged between them, and consequently between NSW and PNG. The Premier later wrote to me:
Dear Charlie,
I’ve always been impressed by your love of the Track and your determination to ensure its place in the Australian imagination is never lost.
You know better than most that the Kokoda Track isn’t just a place where our salvation was won – though we should remember and document and treasure every inch of it. Kokoda’s now part of the Australian dreaming, a sacred site. More than that. The men of Kokoda are among the greatest of heroes in a land that rightly canonises few heroes. And as time slowly steals the survivors from our midst, it’s hard to resist thinking that Australians in the not too distant future will look back with almost disbelief at the giants who lived in those days.
Thanks again.
Yours sincerely,
Bob Carr MP, Premier
12 December 2002

In early 2006 I elected to use my Commonwealth Parliamentary Association research entitlement on our relationship with Papua New Guinea. I travelled to Port Moresby, Goroka, Lae and Madang as part of my research and held numerous meetings with ministers, members, departmental secretaries, provincial and local level government representatives and numerous clan leaders and landowners.
There is no doubt that Australia has made serious mistakes in our relationship with Papua New Guinea since independence was granted in 1975. There is also no doubt that Papua New Guineans can be a very difficult people to ‘help’ given the complexities of their wantok system and their adherence to ‘the Melanesian way’.
I doubt that we will ever understand these complexities and we certainly will not solve them in our lifetime. What we can do however is to begin to workshop ideas that allow us to better understand each other; to develop pilot programmes based on educational-economic partnerships; to develop political partnerships to administer our aid budgets and to develop long term leadership programs for leaders yet to be born.
I believe wartime tourism presents a unique opportunity to assist in re-establishing empathetic relationships between our two countries. People who participate in such niche adventure activities are generally more aware of the sensitivities of culture and environment and do not expect five-star accommodation and service. They are also more tolerant of ‘surprises’ that are often experienced in the ‘land of the unexpected’.
Recent interest in wartime tourism indicates that it has potential as a niche industry for PNG tourism. This is evident by the rapid increase in the number of trekkers since the 50th anniversary of the Kokoda campaign in 1992.
The plight of the New Guinea wartime carriers provides an opportunity for Australia to fix a historical wrong as they are the forgotten heroes of the Kokoda campaign. Their bones lay in unmarked graves across the formidable Owen Stanley Ranges. They have no spiritual resting place such as a cenotaph which is a Greek term for ‘empty tomb’. They have no spirit haus. Nobody has bothered to gather their names to establish a national honour roll. They have never been issued with a medal to recognize their service and sacrifice.
We must remember that back in 1942 Papuans and New Guineans would have regarded Kokoda as an ancient fight between two warring tribes in an area largely unknown to the world at the time. But, to them, these tribes were different – one came from Australia and the other from Japan – both were strangers to their land of the unexpected.
And they weren’t fighting over the normal spoils of a village. They had no interest in raiding their gardens, stealing their pigs, cannibalising their captives and adopting their children. They had no idea of the concept of payback which meant you stopped fighting once an old score had been settled.
Across the trail the native tribes who had occupied the jungle-clad razorback ridges of the Owen Stanley Ranges for centuries were known as mountain Koiari and Orokaiva. Both were feared by their enemies because of their strategic raids, sorcery and cannibal practices.
The mountain Koiari lived in tree houses and often raided the coastal area around Port Moresby where they struck fear into the hearts of its inhabitants. The Orokaiva were warriors from the northern area of the Owen Stanley Ranges who held out against incursions by explorers and missionaries until the turn of the 20th century.
The setting for the battles to come was a series of unmapped jungle tracks connecting remote jungle villages – it was to become known as the Kokoda Trail.
Little did they know they would be forced to participate in a war they didn’t understand. Those who didn’t volunteer to help their white mastas were marched off at gunpoint from the villages all over Papua and New Guinea. Their mothers, wives and children wailed as they were forced to leave their villages at gunpoint as indentured labourers.
It has been estimated that some 10,000 Papuan nationals served as carriers in support of our troops during the Kokoda campaign and it is a matter of historical fact that we would have been defeated without their assistance. A further 42,000 are estimated to have been conscripted from all over Papua and New Guinea to support our troops in other campaigns. They were paid 10 shillings per month.
Japanese troops also conscripted New Guinea carriers to support their campaigns however there are no records of the numbers although we can assume they were substantial.
I have been carried off the trail twice by the grandsons of the wartime carriers and can attest that their dedication to our welfare and safety is as strong today as it was yesterday. I recorded my own experience in a speech to the NSW Parliament on Aug 31, 2010:
Each year for the past 18 or so years I have led treks across the Kokoda Trail in Papua New Guinea to assist in perpetuating what I call the spirit of Anzac. I have been evacuated from the trail twice over my 59 previous journeys, but in April this year, when I was about halfway across the trail, I contracted what appears to have been an acanthamoeba parasite in the eye. Within 24 hours I was totally blind in the right eye and about 12 hours later I was almost totally blind in the left eye. This made me totally dependent on a number of people. Time does not allow me to thank everybody with whom I have been associated over the past four months. However, the care and compassion afforded me by my Papua New Guinean guides, whom I have known for many years and for whom I have great respect and empathy, gave me a good feeling for the care that their grandfathers gave our fathers during World War II. It was genuine commitment. They took me under their wing in the middle of the jungle. They built a stretcher for me, tied me to it with vine and, in a series of relays, carried me through the rugged Templeton’s Crossing area and across Iora Creek, where we all nearly came to grief. However, at no stage did I feel unsafe because I could feel their strength, their compassion and their desire to get me out. My trek leader Joe, our medic Kombi, a trekker Dr Leslie Glen and a great bunch of other trekkers were totally devoted to getting me out safely.
A helicopter took me to Port Moresby, where Dr Amyna Sultan, who is a consultant ophthalmologist at the Pacific International Hospital, was called in while off duty. By that stage I was in a very bad way, but I will never forget the professional devotion that I got from Dr Sultan that night. She prescribed drops every 30 minutes, knowing how serious things were. Because I could not get a bed in the hospital, my mate in Port Moresby, Warren Bartlett, had to administer the drops every 30 minutes until I was able to get on a plane the next day. I had to pretend that I could see, and I did not need care, which was a difficult operation. I thank the Air Niugini hostesses who helped put the drops in my eyes.
I was then admitted to Sydney Eye Hospital under the care of Dr John Males and was prescribed a range of drugs because they were not able to positively identify the parasite. I think it was eight to ten drops in each eye every 30 minutes for the next 48 hours. I was almost punch-drunk by the end of that 48-hour period. I had no sleep; I was disoriented, and my eyes did not want to open for any more drops. There are a number of angels at Sydney Eye Hospital. I do not have their surnames – I had to ask them for their first names and could not write them down because I could not see for the first week. I would ask who was there as they changed shifts. There was Helen, Gemma, Ushma from Nepal, Ting-Ting from Hong Kong, Vonica from Hong Kong and David and Max – absolutely wonderful people. I was under the expert care of Dr Robert McDonald, Dr Matt Simunovic and Dr Jenny Tye, who is here from Thailand. With the caterers and cleaners, I was almost a resident. Each morning they would bring a packaged breakfast. I thought: “a packaged breakfast to a blind man?” I think I used my Swiss army knife more in four weeks in the Sydney Eye Hospital than I have used it in 10 years on the Kokoda Trail, but I managed to survive. . .
I now have permanent corneal scarring to my eyes which means they have to be shaded from light – however without the support of my PNG mates there would be no light at all. So I will be eternally grateful.
Next week: Special Anzac Day instalment – Discoveries along the Trail and Bomana War Cemetery
Excerpts reproduced by kind permission from 100 Treks Across the Kokoda Trail by Charlie Lynn with Glenn Armstrong

3 comments

  • I am enjoying this read Charlie. It is very impressive stuff, but I would expect nothing less from you. You must be very proud of your achievements. Regards Gary Bell

  • An amazing story and important history. As PNG government just renegotiated a better deal with a mining company based there, I trust and pray you will be able to access PNG PM’s team to discuss your Kokoda Trail plans aimed at educating local youth and to gain recognition for former soldiers.

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