Unmarked graves in PNG

Background.

Standard Operational Procedure for the burial of soldiers killed in the field of battle are set out in the National Archives of Australia, chapter 3, under the heading of Burials, where by a Burial Report (form A F W.3314) is actioned as well as Field Reports and War Diaries. From this information, Grave Registration Units locate and exhume the bodies of our fallen for re-interment in an appropriate War Cemetery (Bomana). To date efforts to locate these reports from appropriate authorities have proved fruitless.

NX2246, Cpl H W W Vercoe, 2/2nd Battalion 16th Brigade AIF, was killed by an errant American mortar bomb in the Headquarters of Capt Jack Blamey ( who was killed by the same bomb) 500 yards on the right hand side of the Sanananda track on the 25th November 1942.

It appears that Graves Registration Units were quite apathetic in their 1943 efforts to locate battlefield graves (as per their field reports AWM), citing poor local labour and their aversion to disinter bodies. The procedure for locating our fallen, buried in the field of battle, was to wander over the battlefield in what could be called a very hit and miss, ad hock manner. (Refer 7th Cav. Div. Padre). The same Padre also informed me, the body recovery procedure “was to toss the remains into a 44-gallon drum” prior to re-internment. Not very civilised you will agree. Many burial sites were not located during this initial, flawed, search operation.

It should be noted the Americans and the Japanese are still regularly recovering their war dead from the PNG battlefields (refer J Bowers Kokoda Aid Station installer). The latter using small wooden boxes, reverently tied with white ribbon, then shipped back to Japan; a far cry from our uncaring, non-existing effort over the last 60 years. The Americans through the US Army Central Identification Laboratory in Hawaii have located hundreds upon hundreds of their fallen who were buried in unmarked graves. They have vowed to search on using all the technical resources at their disposal. Many bodies have been recovered from the PNG area. The Russians have granted their permission to Germany to search the battle fields of Leningrad (St Petersburg) and Moscow for their war dead who until now have no known grave. To date thousands of German dead now have a decent marked grave.

What effort have we Australians, who spruik our great caring comradeship and care for our bretheren, done to bring honourable closure to a sacrificed life? Only once in our history has this great country been attacked by a foreign nation, these men of which I speak, fought and defeated this ruthless and often barbaric enemy, so that the freedom we enjoy today can be passed on to future generations.

There are many hundreds of unmarked Australian soldier’s burial sites in PNG.

Many people believe that a soul is not at rest until their grave is marked.

Why are these national heroes left forgotten, to lie for eternity in an unmarked grave?

Proposition.

To request the Federal Government revisit the battle sites, in an effort to do the right and just thing for our men who paid the supreme price for our freedom. I firmly believe the quote from our sacred ode “LEST WE FORGET” is a lot more than just patriotic rhetoric. Surely our glorious dead deserve a worthwhile and meaningful effort to be instigated, for their remains to rest in a decent marked grave; alongside those of their comrades.

Method

Ben Moide CBE, ex PNGVR of Port Moresby and Paul Pukari, the president of the Popendetta RSL, advise that the local population who live in the New Guinea battle field sites avoid certain areas and will not cultivate other places because a human body is thought to be buried in that particular vicinity. Ben Moide, who fought against the Japanese (Tribute to the Brave) from Kokoda to Sanananda 1942, has distinct recollections of the happenings of the battles fought there. His input into the operation would be invaluable. These veterans advise the country is now far more accessible than is was 60 years ago and that nothing has changed.

In full co-operation with the PNG government, a small portion of our foreign aid (currently about $330 million p/a) could be used to employ locals from the specific battle field areas, to mark sites of suspect grave locations. Once this preliminary work has been completed, a small team of experts from an Australian body recovery unit, using state of the art technology, would carry out a more thorough search of the area. A device being used by the Americans in Iraq to locate mass Iranian graves is called a “Sceneographer”, which can detect bone structure under ground. More details on this equipment are available from the Department of Molecular Science, Griffith University.

Conclusion

Time is quickly running out, to tap the memory of those who survived the terrible campaigns, whose input will make the chances of success of the search far greater. The R&SL and Army Defence Headquarters are the national bodies who can instigate a worthwhile effort to ensure our forgotten glorious dead may at last rest in peace. Remember, these brave soldiers defended our homeland with their lives. They have been forgotten too long. Let us not fail them now. There is only one question to ask ourselves:

DO YOU CARE? If you do please email prvercoe@iprimus.com.au

LEST WE FORGET.

Peter Vercoe