The brigade that never really was: Norm Furness
My story begins about June 1940 when many young men, including myself, enlisted in the AIF to fight the war against the German Army overseas. We that enlisted in Victoria mainly went through depots...
Category: Battles and Campaigns
The New Guinea Volunteer Rifles and the Papua New Guinea Volunteer Rifles
The New Guinea Volunteer Rifles (NGVR) had the distinction of being the only Australian army militia unit raised, mobilised, fought and disbanded overseas in the Mandated Territory of New Guinea between 1939 and 1943....
Gallipoli veterans lost on Montevideo Maru: Don Hook
The sinking of the Japanese prisoner transport ship Montevideo Maru 73 years ago remains Australia’s greatest maritime disaster, and there is a tragic link with Gallipoli. Recent research revealed that 15 of the civilian...
Rudy Buckley and the Montevideo Maru: Maxwell R Hayes
Rudy Buckley in NGVR/PNGVR Ex-Members Association parade dress. Photo by T. Dowling One of the most incredible discoveries to come to light confirming the departure of the Montevideo Maru1 from Rabaul with captive service...
Glimmer of hope: Bob Piper
An RAAF Douglas C-47 transport aircraft with nineteen on board, which disappeared minutes after takeoff from Milne Bay in New Guinea in September 1945, may have been re-located. An Australian tour boat operator, as...
Anzac Day 2012 in Rabaul: Bob Cleland
My recent visit to PNG falls naturally into three parts: the cruise from Alotau to Rabaul, Anzac Day in Rabaul, and my return to Goroka after 36 years. I will cover only Anzac Day...
Anzac Day, San Remo Club, 2012: Cecilie Benjamin
The following speech was made at the San Remo Club, West New Britain, on Anzac Day 2012 We gather today here at the San Remo Club, as we annually have in recent years, to...
A happy wartime memory of Kabakaul: Frazer Harry
There is something attractive about the idea of enjoying a cold beer at the end of a hot tropical day, particularly if it’s with a group of great mates, with a view of palm...
William Manning Edwards, CMG, MBE, MID: Phil Ainsworth
Edwards, William Manning CMG MBE MID, Colonel, NGX455: the story of an Australian Private soldier who stormed Gallipoli on 25 April 1915 and became the CO of NGVR, 1 NGIB & PIR during WW2...
70th anniversary, Cape Wom: Charles Betteridge
This year, 2015, is the 70th Anniversary of the end of World War II. It was a war that stunned the world in its ferocity and swiftness, and there was not a living soul...
Leslie Hore’s WWI pictures: Patrick Bourke
Like many Australian ex-service men, Lt Colonel Leslie FS Hore, MC, MID, went to the former German colony of New Guinea after WWI. When he died in 1935 he owned a plantation on the...
The aftermath of war: Charles Betteridge
About 8 pm on 10 September 1945, three Japanese soldiers and an orderly arrived at the area of the 2/7th Battalion at Kairiru near Maprik. They carried a message from General Adachi. They were...
Final Japanese surrender in PNG: Don Hook
The final Japanese surrender in PNG came one month after VP Day on 15 August 1945. It marked the end of the war against Japan in the Pacific and the end of World War...
First civilians arrive back in Rabaul: Gladys Baker
This December 2011 marks the 70th anniversary since evacuations prior to WWII. It was to be five years before those evacuated were able to return to rebuild new homes and new lives. Gladys Baker...
