Museum acknowledges Nov 3 as Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels Day

The National Museum and Art Gallery acknowledged Nov 3 (yesterday) as Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels Day.
According to the National Museum, the day was important to recognise Papuan and New Guinean carriers during World War II.
Director Dr Andrew Moutu said plantation workers from across the country were conscripted during the war to provide support service to the Australian Defence Force.
“This work included loading and unloading supply ships, labourers for roads, airfields and other public works, and work on the Kokoda Track and at other places of battle, where they became orderlies and stretcher-bearers, assisting with the carrying of injured servicemen to first-aid posts and field hospitals,” he said.
“These carriers showed great compassion in looking after their wounded charges with extreme care and tenderness.
“The gratitude of the servicemen was immortalised in the famous photo taken on Christmas Day of 1942 by war photographer George Silk of Australian soldier Dick Whittington being helped along the Buna Road by Raphael Oembari, and in the poem Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels written by Sapper Bert Beros, while he was encamped near the wartime village of Uberi on the Kokoda Track.”
The National Museum and Art Gallery has had a long association with the Australian War Memorial and received the painting titled “Native bearers carrying wounded in New Guinea”, by celebrated Australian artist and Archibald Prize winner Sir William Dargie in 1982.
Dr Moutu said the painting had been removed from long-term storage and that after restoration work, it would be on public display in a new WW II gallery that the museum had in planning.
The painting will remain on display at the National Museum and Art Gallery this week only before undergoing restoration work.