Lest we forget

TODAY is Anzac Day.
For the Australians and New Zealanders who fought in Papua New Guinea and for those who confronted not only enemy but the terrible Kokoda Track, it is a day that will always hold a special significance.
Anzac Day is a national day of remembrance that commemorates all Australians and New Zealanders who served and died in all wars, conflicts and peacekeeping missions and the contribution and suffering of all those who have served.
ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps and the first Anzac Day commemoration was held in these two countries on April 25, 1916.
Observed on April 25 every year, Anzac Day originally honoured the members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps who fought in Gallipoli in World War One.
The Bomana War Cemetery contains 3838 Commonwealth burials from WW Two.
To this day, over 600 graves are still unidentified.
The only female among the men, Sister Marie Craig, flew in and out of combat zones to tend to the wounded.
On September 18, 1942, Marie and 27 patients and crew were flying from Indonesia to Horn Island in the Torres Strait when their crashed. The plane was not found until 1970 and her remains taken to Bomana over a decade ago.
This year marks 103 years of Anzac Day tradition.
One will hear this around this time … Anzac Day is an opportunity to reflect on the spirit of Anzac forged at Gallipoli and continued in the jungles and mountains of PNG, and to reflect on the courage and sacrifice of all servicemen and women.
In World War Two, Australians fought alongside men of the Papuan Infantry Battalion and the Pacific Islands Regiment.
PNG will always be part and partial of Anzac Day.
We owe the freedom we enjoy today to our forefathers who did not have guns and bombs, didn’t have any hint about planes and submarines but volunteered to help.
Without knowing what the war was about, many also sacrificed their lives to help their Anzac comrades.
Their overseas brothers didn’t know local terrain like they did. Our men grew up with the bush. It was their sustenance and livelihood.
They knew the sounds of the bush that could indicate a movement of people or the refreshing sound of a creek. You hear those sharing their experience and many will say our forefathers did not ask questions but obediently got on with the job as they were told.
They were strong men who were mainly used as carriers, transporting heavy loads, and even injured soldiers where it necessitated.
There were about 50,000 Papuan and New Guinean civilians who carried supplies, evacuated the sick and wounded, and built bases, airfields and other infrastructure.
Many survived the war, many more didn’t.
In their small way, they were helping defend PNG.
Our women and children were also casualties of war or suffered the indignities of those times.
They too should not be forgotten.
This part of history is something we must always be proud of.
If it was not for that track our men, Australia and New Zealand will definitely not be what they are today.
That rugged and harsh terrain of the PNG jungle is the very ground the events of 1942 took place.
Lest we forget!