The sacrifice of two Forbes brothers and their comrades will be remembered with a monument to soldiers killed at the battle for Gorari, on the Kokoda Trail, now in place.
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Edley and James Simmonds lost their lives on November 10, 1942. It was only last month that family members from Forbes, Canberra, Sydney, Central Coast and Melbourne travelled to Papua New Guinea for the unveiling of a monument honouring those who fought there.
This story courtesy of Simmonds family historian, Susanne Clarkson.
Edley (Boy as he was known to all Forbes and as Poddy in the army) and James Mountain (known as Mount) Simmonds were third generation wheat and sheep farmers working with their parents and siblings on the family farm Pretoria near Warroo.
The brothers enlisted together for service in World War II on May 7, 1940, were sent to the Middle East and transferred into D Coy 2/31st Battalion.
They were involved in fighting in the Syria-Lebanon campaign, where Edley was wounded.
The brothers returned to Australia, and were then sent to Papua New Guinea in September 1942 where they fought in the battle for Ioribaiwa which halted the Japanese advance on Port Morseby.
But a few short weeks later in the battle for Gorari, in the Owen Stanley Range, they were shot within minutes of each other and died on November 10, 1942.
The battle for Gorari was the last major engagement on the Kokoda track with 133 Australians killed, 225 wounded and more than 600 Japanese killed.
After this battle the Japanese retreated to the northern beach heads where the Allied Forces made their final assault.
Unlike other battlefields, there were no monuments or plaques at Gorari.
John Tannock, whose father served in the 2/25th and was injured in this battle, set about to correct this.
He spent two years working tirelessly to organise the memorial and endeavoured to spread the word to as many as possible of the descendants of the soldiers who fought there.
He made contact with a member of the Simmonds family in the Forbes district, and a group of six descendants of the Simmonds siblings was able to travel to Papua New Guinea for the unveiling of the monument last month:
Lynda (of Forbes) and her son Marcus Finn, descended from eldest brother Albert;
Jennifer Simmonds, a granddaughter of second brother Thomas;
Carolyn Holburn, daughter of third brother Robert;
Susanne daughter of Gladys, the next sibling after Boy and Mount;
Jennifer Rose, daughter of Marie, youngest child in the Simmonds family.
The group visited the beachheads of Buna, Gona and Sanananda, viewing the relics of the Japanese air defence and airstrip.
On the morning before the unveiling service at the village of Gorari, the group visited the village of Waju (Baribe in war diaries). It had taken weeks of negotiations to be allowed to visit this area.
Mr Tannock, using army sketches of the battle, was able to identify where the 2/31st and 2/25th had been on the morning of November 10 when his father was injured.
He also identified where Boy and Mount fell later that day and family members were able to gather as close as 50 yards from where the brothers fell. The jungle was too thick to get further off the track.
The visit took place in the same month, November, as the battle and the family noted how oppressive the heat and humidity were.
They were all moved by how it would have added to the difficulties of jungle warfare including carrying packs and equipment, let alone fighting in the jungle.
They were charmed by the warmth and friendliness of the natives and the smiles of the children, the descendants of the Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels.
During the Kokoda campaign, about 10,000 Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels works for the Australians on the Kokoda track, bringing in supplies and taking out the wounded.
The ceremony itself drew a huge crowd of residents of Gorari and nearby villages.
Proceedings started with welcome singing and dancing.
Dignitaries included Stanfield Anjeka, headman of the village; Tom Battams representing the Australian High Commissioner; Dr Andrew Connelly Military heritage Advisor to the PNG Museum; Father Richmond Borai priest of the local Church of England; and Rebecca, head of a Church of England Girls Group.
The tour group went on to visit the village of Kokoda and the Kokoda Plateau.
On return to Port Morseby they visited the Bomano War Cemetery and found Edley and James’ graves.
Each of the descendants sprinkled Forbes soil, from Pretoria at Warroo, on their graves and Marcus spoke.
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