More Devastation in PNG's Oro Province ... Help Needed

Just four years after enduring deadly Cyclone Guba, which killed 300 people and devastated the region, Papua New Guinea’s Oro Province has again been hit by severe flooding and leaving at least 11,000 desperately needing urgent help with food and medicine.

The 2011 wet season, which began in November, brought sustained torrential rain, flooding rivers and inundating food gardens in hundreds of coastal and low-lying villages. The Kokoda Track Foundation, which has been working in the region since 2003, has responded with an emergency distribution of 5000 kilograms of rise to 55 villages in the region. But more is urgently needed to help the descendants of the WWII Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels - our nearest neighbours.

By supporting our ‘Oro Emergency Appeal’ you will assist the KTF in both our initial emergency food distribution process as well as giving ongoing support for the flood-affected communities as we help them to re-build their gardens. The KTF will continue to support the region via its existing Northern Province Food Restoration Project after the initial rice distribution, giving villages access to improved strains of crops, including taro, cassava and sweet potato, that are able to grow in water-logged soil and will help villages to quickly restart their food gardens.

The KTF’s representative in Oro Province, Mr Elijah Sarigari said yesterday: “I have been to parts of Oro Bay LLG specially along the Bareji and Pongani rivers and found that many food gardens are still under water due to continuous raining for almost two months now… as a result all the food crops are rotting”.

In 2007, the Province was hit by Cyclone Guba, which killed hundreds and left more than 100,000 without access to food and clean water. Then in 2009, severe flooding hit the province again, just as villagers were getting their lives back together.

All donations over $2 to the Kokoda Track Foundation are tax deductible in Australia. Please go to our website to donate. www.kokodatrackfoundation.org

New Fromelles Museum to Honour Diggers

Wonderful news that the Australian Government is to fund a new museum at Fromelles, the site of our nation’s darkest day back on 19 July 1916, when we suffered 5500 casualties in a single night, including almost 2000 killed.

The Battle of Fromelles was the first time Australian troops had fought on the Western Front and many of those whose lives were snuffed out on that disastrous night had already survived the eight-month Gallipoli campaign.

The villagers of Fromelles, led by Martial Delebarre of the Association pour le Souvenir de la Bataille de Fromelles, have been collecting artefacts from the surrounding killing fields for decades and they have created one of the finest small WWI collections in France and Belgium, which they display in a series of attic rooms above the Town Hall. (Check out their website: http://www.asbf14-18.org/)

The new museum, designed by the Paris-New York firm, Serero Architects, will form a key element in the Western Front Remembrance Trail, to be ready for the centenary of WWI in 2014. The trail will be enhanced by an interpretive facility at Pozieres and improvements to the road near the Australian National Memorial at Villers-Bretonneux and the restoration of the German trenches at Mon St Quentin.

The museum will be housed in an octagonal concrete building, sited next to the new Pheasant Wood Cemetery, which contains the remains of the missing soldiers of the battle, recently found in a mass grave dug by the Germans in the days after the battle. (check the design plans here: http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/227498/20111008/museum-of-the-fromelles-fight-serero-architectes.htm )

The building has been designed around two axes: one connecting it with the Pheasant Wood Cemetery and the other to a lobby featuring a stunning view of the Fromelles church spire across the road. The provisional budget is 1.3 million Euros ($A1.75m).

Perhaps now the Australian authorities will reconsider their previous inaction by adding the battle honour “Fromelles” to our major national shrines to give it recognition worthy of our Diggers’ sacrifice there.

Our Fallen are never Forgotten

Just back from a trip to Gallipoli and the WWI Western Front battlefields.

It was a wonderfully enriching experience, made all the more memorable by the superb work of the staff of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission throughout France and Belgium.

Without exception, every cemetery or memorial we visited was immaculate. At most venues maintenance work was underway while we visited, a never-ending tribute to the fallen whose sacrifices live on in the legacy of freedom enjoyed by those who visit and those who live there.

Similarly in Turkey. I hold a profound respect and gratitude for the Turkish nation’s dedication of the Gallipoli memorial park and for the gracious way they allow visitors to pay their respects there. How many nations have set aside tracts of their land as memorials to the soldiers who tried to invade and conquer them?

The Gallipoli campaign represented a magnificent victory for the Turks and it opened the way for the nation to emerge from the Ottoman Empire to become a modern republic. But the Turks also recognize the importance of the campaign to the fledgling nations of Australia and New Zealand in particular and their continuing generosity welcomes those from Down Under as they come to pay their respects.

I was particularly proud to see the beautiful new Pheasant Wood Cemetery for the first time. It honours the Missing Soldiers from the Battle of Fromelles on a prime piece of the town’s land, dedicated by the people of Fromelles. It stands as a tribute to the sacrifices of the fallen and to the persistence of those who fought to ensure the missing were not forgotten but were recovered and buried with dignity.

TWO NEW BOOKS DUE SOON

Two new editions of Patrick Lindsay's books will hit the bookstands soon.

Following on the success of his original version of this work, Patrick has updated and rewritten this new edition, which includes our Diggers’ contribution to the Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts and recent discoveries relating to Fromelles, Kokoda and other Western Front battles. He has also included new chapters on our most recent VC winners, the Coast Watchers and IEDs (improvised explosive devices).

Told through the words and actions of the Diggers themselves, THE SPIRIT OF THE DIGGER explores the essence of the Australian soldier and how he differs from other soldiers.

In many ways, the Digger is a study in contradictions: he doesn′t crave war yet he will fight with unequalled ferocity; he hates spit and polish but will hold his discipline under the most trying conditions; he is tough yet compassionate; he hates his enemy until he surrenders, then he is generous in victory; he despises histrionics but will cry unashamedly at the loss of a mate.

Courage, mateship, endurance, selflessness, devotion, independence, audacity, and humour describe the Digger. Throw in resilience, self-reliance and compassion and the list of the Digger′s qualities is still not complete.

They are not all heroes but they are remarkable and their deeds are timeless.

This is an abridged edition of Patrick’s acclaimed book, Fromelles, first published in 2007 and substantially updated in 2008 after the confirmation of the discovery of the Missing Diggers of Fromelles, the story of which was first revealed in the original edition.

On 19 July 1916, near the French village of Fromelles, Australia suffered its worst-ever losses in a single day when a British officer ordered around 7000 of our Diggers ‘over the top’ to attack the heavily-defended German lines. The following morning more than 5500 Diggers were dead, wounded or missing: the dead was greater that our losses from the Boer, Korean and Vietnam wars combined. Many of those who died disappeared from the official record, their fate remaining unknown for close to a century.

This abridged edition of the bestselling Fromelles includes the recent discovery of the largest mass war grave since the Second World War; the recovery of the missing Diggers’ remains; the names of those who have been identified and the opening of the new Fromelles (Pheasant Wood) Military Cemetery in 2010

FOOTSTEPS' ratings back over million mark

Footsteps’ ratings jumped more than 9% last week to see it back over the million mark, at 1.024 million viewers, as it posted its highest result in Sydney of 310,000.

Last night’s episode featured 25-year-old camera operator, Kathryn Ward, as she walked in the footsteps of her grandfather, Les Semken, who survived the Japanese bombing of Darwin on February 19 1942 – the first time the Australian mainland had come under fire.

Now 90, in 1942 Les Semken was a carpenter working in Darwin to try to save money for a world trip. When the world came to him, his life was changed forever. His traumatic time in Darwin prompted him to join the Army and do his part to keep his country free.

Now, almost 70 years later, his granddaughter Kathryn takes us along with her on her personal quest to learn about the war that came to our shores and how it changed her beloved Pa.

It’s a tender story where a typical vibrant 25-year-old Australian woman takes time out to learn from her grandfather and to understand the historic moments that shaped her grandfather’s life at a similar age: a tale of the wisdom of elders and the life-changing experiences of youth.

Next week, July 10, will be the final episode of the first series of Footsteps and will feature 52-year-old Steve Johns as he walks in his Dad’s footsteps: Stan “Stunna” Johns, a Korean and Vietnam War veteran.  Steve knew his Dad as a violent family man and wants to understand the wartime experiences that contributed to his Dad’s post-war life.