Today is ANZAC Day – a day of remembrance for Australia and New Zealand. It’s also 75 years since the end of WWII (give or take a few months). Normally people will get up before dawn to attend the Dawn Service and march. This year, people stood at the end of their driveways instead. It seemed like large crowds risking lives to remember lives would be a poor choice.
My family never did anything for ANZAC Day. I think Grandad never felt like he fitted into the marches seeing as he didn’t belong to a unit. He also avoided making friends during the war as the first guy he made friends with while in a fox hole together, didn’t survive the night.
In 2017, I decided to learn more about Grandad’s experience during the war. I took on the challenging Kokoda Track in Papua New Guinea with a group of other trekkers. It was an incredible experience.
On ANZAC Day we conducted our own little Dawn Service at Ioribaiwa, the southern most point of the track that the Japanese reached in 1942. Their destination was Port Moresby. As we stood on that hill in 2017, we could see the lights of Port Moresby glowing from behind the next hill.
The enemy never captured the city. The Australians managed to push them back to Kokoda and then onto the beaches with the help of the locals nicknamed Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels.
During our hike the day before, our porters collected native flowers. That night, they made us a stunning wreath and bouquets for the Dawn Service.
Each year I take the time to remember Grandad, his father who fought in WWI, and everyone else who fought for our freedom. The Kokoda Track was an eye-opening experience for me and I’m glad I had the oppotuniy to see one of the places Grandad had been in WWII.
Lest We Forget
All the details of my trek, including photos and Grandad’s translated Japanese war documents are in my book Kokoda Trek.
#lestweforget #anzacday #remembrance #kokodatrek
