2024 Kokoda Day Commemoration Service

At Gallipoli we fought for Britain and lost . . .

At Kokoda we fought for Australia and won!

Kokoda Day Salute for the New Guinea ‘Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels

Kokoda Day is dedicated to the legacy of the New Guinea wartime carriers who were indentured to support our Australian forces in World War II.

The carriers, immortalised as ‘Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels’, were regarded as civilian labourers and therefore not entitled to benefits reserved for servicemen and women. Their names were never recorded. They never received a medal even though many served at the front line. And many claimed to have never been paid.

Compensation has remained a vexed issue for more than 50 years since the end of the war, Many claimed not to have been fully paid for their services. Many lie in unmarked graves where they fell.

Today it’s too late to record their names, pin a medal on their chest, mark their unknown graves, or compensate them.

However, what we can do, is dedicate a day to honour their legacy of service and sacrifice to nation.

The most appropriate day is the anniversary of the raising of the Australian flag on the Kokoda Plateau at the end of a gruelling 3-month campaign across the Kokoda Trail – this would not have been possible if our diggers had not been supported by the New Guinea wartime carriers.

Kokoda Day should therefore be proclaimed as a national day of commemoriation in Australia and Papua New Guinea to allow us to pause, reflect and acknowledge their service and their sacrifice to ensure they are never forgotten.

Click here for more information on Kokoda Day – The Concept

The Kokoda Track Memorial Walkway at Concord is to be congratulated for their commitment to the memory of Kokoda.

Lest We Forget.

Lieutenant-Colonel Ralph Honner MC Education Center at the Kokoda Track Memorial Walkway

The Hon Charlie Lynn OAM OL delivers the prologue at the 2024 Kokoda Day Service

PNG National Anthem sung by the Strathfield North Public School – conducted by Adam Casalo

The Hon Gosling MP, Special Envoy for Veterans Affairs

Catafalque Party from the Australian Forces Re-Enactment Heritage Unit

Keynote Speaker: The Hon David Harris MP, NSW Minister for Veterans Affairs

Australian National Anthem sung by the Strathfield North Public School Choir conducted by Adam Casalo

Jennifer Collins AM, Clr Michael Megna, The Hon Luke Gosling OAM MP, and The Hon David Harris MP unveiling the Private Bruce Kingsbury VC Plaque

‘You could see his Bren gun help out and his big bottom swaying as he went with the momentum he was getting up, followed by his life-long mate, Private Alan Avery MM . . . ‘