I'm 74 Aussie, did time in our Australian Army, I'm saying nothing about me, but I met some of the best examples of true men during my time, never leave your mates.
My Dad fought in New Guinea in WWII, not in Kokoda but other parts. Conditions were terrible with monsoon rains and the humidity, they were constantly soaked to the skin,he survived and came home but caught malaria and had other health issues which affected him for the rest of his life. He never complained and passed at 89, he'll always be my hero.
My father was stationed in Port Moresby(Capital of Papua-New Guinea) with the Royal Australian Air Force, at the time of the Kokoda Campaign. Seeing the wounded soldiers being carried down from the Kokoda Track by the Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels, left an indelible impression on him until the day he died. After experiencing a similar situation in Vietnam, while serving with the Royal Australian Navy; l was able to understand what he was feeling, and how it affected the both of us. I wear my dad's war medals, as well as my own; and celebrate both our service, every ANZAC Day. The ANZAC tradition is a longstanding heritage, that is taken with pride in any conflict our service personnel are involved; to disrespect this tradition, would be to cast a stain upon those who gave it all,for their countrymen and women.
My Uncle fought in New Guinea and the black angels mentioned in the song were the New Guinea natives who helped our troops . My Uncle called them the fuzzy wuzzies they hated the Japanese.
A neighbour when I was growing up was a veteran who served in New Guinea would never talk about it. Even threw out bamboo blinds his wife bought for the house. Yet, he was proud to have fought in the desert and to be a Rat of Tobruk.
The Papua-New Guinea Campaign was Australia's first genuine experience of 'jungle' warfare. This experience was of great benefit to the service personnel that were sent to Vietnam, some 20 years later.
They didn't hesitate to go and face the Japanese...they needed to protect their families who were just across the Torres Straight. They will forever be heroes - Lest We Forget 🇦🇺
He mentions theGolden Staircase which is one of the steepest parts of the Trail. Virtually straight up and muddy when they walked it. The Australian troops were supported by the local people known as the Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels and lead by Lt Bert Kienzle who had a plantation at Kokoda and also told Australian command about Myola where supplies were airdropped. I met Bert in 1980 and he was a humble man and hero.
My Dad was waiting in Darwin to go to PNG when the Japanese part of the war was declared over. He did 4 years in the middle east first, along with 6 Uncles and one of my Grandfathers was a 5th Light horseman in WWI. Dad lived to 92 and Mum nearly 97. Slim Dusty RIP. This is a beautiful tribute to our so brave Diggers and the wonderful Fuzzy Wuzzies. Thank you for your wonderful words Mike ❤❤❤
You can still do the Kokoda trek - which even today is apparently still very difficult without the war fare and having to carry what they did - my brother went with our school when he was 16 to do the trek back in the 70's - a lot of the 'Fuzzy Wuzzies' that is native New Guineans who were there with the Aussies on the Kokoda trail were still alive and they met them - there was a great respect between them and the Australian soldiers - Slim sang it in this song - " Black Angels'
It’s always good to get a dose of reality . Much respect for all those that served for our country. It cuts deeper coming from Slim . Watching this makes me proud to be an Aussie. Thx Mike
Thanks for the respect. My husband’s, who himself is a veteran, father. He served during WWII, on the Kokoda Trail/Track and in the Pacific. He rarely spoke about it except for one incident on the KT. He was shot on his 21st birthday, fell into a ravine and, luckily, was rescued by the Fuzzy Wuzzy Angles. He 😮kept in contact with them even after the war was over.
The fall of Singapore lost15,000 Australians to prisoners, so the Kokoda Trail was all manned by 'new' troops. 1000's of Australians have walked the Trail in their honour
They didnt want to surrender, they were ORDERED to, but many disobeyed, including one, Robert McLaren, whom you should google up if you want a GOOD story....the original RAMBO !
Thanks Mike, I'll watch it again later too many tears! 😪 You are absolutely right, in those days a man stood up for what he believed in, for his country, for his mates, for his family and community without hesitation! I worked with a man years ago, who had been a POW of the Japanese, horrifying, he turned up to work every day to keep occupied and useful! There are organised tours of the still difficult Kokoda Trail, it's a sort of right of passage for some young Australians! Lest we forget! 🌄
Thanks Mike. My Uncle went up and down then back up Kokoda while my Father who had been at the Battle of Milne Bay went up to capture it. Both were in the 2/25 Battalion. My Uncle led the first Patrol into Lae when it was recaptured. The Trail is about 100 km (60 miles) long and most of it is 300 m ((1000 feet) up, 200 m (660 feet) down and then all over again up to its highest peak of 2200 m (7200 feet) and most of it is jungle. And we managed to win despite Macarthur.
We of this generation, or past or still to come owe so much to these brave souls, who fought for their country, for us and for their lives. A lot of veterans that returned from any war didn’t return the same people, and in a lot of cases our governments weren’t there for them, with limited resources for these brave men and woman the system in a lot of cases let them down and had far too little resources to help them put their lives back together. In a lot of other cases when they returned, a lot of them continue to serve, whether it be still in the military in some capacity or a lot joined law enforcement and we take their contribution to the public, whether they where vets or not, for granted and don’t give them the respect they deserve, risking their lives to enforce the law and keep us safe. To run towards a hail of bullets is an unimaginable and brave thing to do, to fight for what you believe in and to protect and serve. We owe our way of life to these brave people, still here or unfortunately been taken from us, we thank you and should always remember you, and to march on that one day, the least we can do is applaud you and remember.
Slim was magic he was a historian with his songs of Australian history .My grandfather on my mothers side helped clean up after the Hiroshima bomb which ended the war he was a truck driver for the Australian army in Japan for 7 years .
Hi Mike! Thanks for reacting to this! I love Slim Dusty’s songs, however I haven’t heard this one! It’s beautiful! Thanks again! Peace and Blessings to you and yours from Australia!
All our experienced troops and best equipment were in Europe and Africa. So, the defence against the Japanese was left to a hastily constructed army of nearly 100% unbloodied and barely trained recruits. They were fighting Japanese veterans of their Chinese war, and the hope was they could delay them long enough for our troops to return from Europe. Yet they did more than that. They dented Japanese pride and pushed them back. Then the Americans joined the effort, and that is when Australia's reliance on England ended. The USA became our major ally and has remained so.
The US might be our major ally but don't forget that as far as alliances go they only joined in the last months of WW1 for economic reasons as in they realised they wouldn't have loans repaid. If it wasn't for Pearl Harbor they would not have joined WW2 - they sat back and made squillions out of the Allies. The UK for example, only paid off its debt in 2006. The rest of the world bankrupted itself to win and the US emerged as the major economic power as a direct result. As far as being allies on the ground is concerned its too late to talk to Australian soldiers from WW2 and probably Vietnam as well but I'm 70 and I have talked to a lot of ex-soldiers over the years and I can assure you that our soldiers including my Father and Uncle from WW2 and cousins from Vietnam did not have much regard for American soldiers (including the stoned Septic who shot my cousin's arm off in Saigon on the day before he was due to fly home after his 12 months' service in the front line infantry in-country. Even the US Medical Corp admitted that 15% (call that more like 20%) of the servicemen had heroin "problems". Macarthur famously asked Australian General Blamey after Kokoda if he wanted more troops (after no support for 5 months) and he replied "We want soldiers who will fight". In Vietnam Australia when agreeing to increase troop numbers insisted that we not be under US control and have our own Province Phouc Tuy. The most common response whenever I asked anybody who'd been in Vietnam before that where the worst place to be was anywhere near a Yank. The alliance so far has always been one-way and I wouldn't be too confident of the Yanks rushing to help us if it didn't suit them.
@@warrenturner397 Yes, I agree! Our Vietnam and Afghanistan soliders have many reasons to be appalled! Also, it was US soldiers from Vietnam who first brought in the heroin to Kings Cross, Sydney!
@@jenniferharrison8915 Exactly Jennifer. I get sick and tired of seeing this crap about the Yanks being the best thing since sliced bread and bottled beer without knowing absolutely anything about what actually went on or speaking to people first-hand.
@@warrenturner397 When the USA entered WWI, they insisted they fight beside Australia. They sold us nuclear submarines and F35 fighter jets with upgraded electronics. So, I have no fear they are strong allies and a few bad troops amongst the many does not change their overall bravery or commitment.
What beautiful words. Thank you Slim. One of my great uncles was on the Kokoda and his brother was a Rat of Tobruk, both came home. To live those years, whether at home or serving abroad was hard and for some, horrendous. Hats off to all who endured. Proud of you all. Thank you to that generation
aussie here and they were brave all right. I do not doubt for a second that the current generation would do it also. (I'm 64 and the young'uns are pretty damn good)
Thanks Mike, like to think of my self as a patriotic Aussie.I grew up with the pub bands of the 80s and 90s, I'm 60 now and thanks to your channel I'm hearing this for the first time. A Texan introducing an Australian to an Aussie song.
One of the great parts of the Kokoda story is that it was the militia which was sent to initially stop the Japanese advance, and they were almost pushed the off the track. There was a lot of criticism that they were not up to the job but they proved to be adaptable and resilient and combined with the AIF they overcame the Japanese, whose supply lines had become too stretched. It is a great story of resilience and bravery. I grew up in PNG but am an Aussie...as young kids, my brother and i would find shells, and full bullets buried in our yard, and we even found a sniper sight once. All the hills had bomb craters on them. A fun upbringing.
Theres a good one called something in the pilliga by slim dusty its a great song and the pilliga is one of the most active forest in australia for entities
Prior to, and during the Papua-New Guinea Campaign, Australia suffered our own 'PearlHarbour' with the bombing of Darwin; this bombing was followed by further bombings, across the north and north-west coasts of mainland Australia. That was the closest to invading Australia, by the Japanese; not excluding the midget sub raid on Sydney Harbour.
My great uncle was a volunteer bomber pilot around our coast, instrumental in saving a US carrier and many civilians by destroying air and sea attacks! His plane, body and crew, are submerged somewhere near New Guinea! A refueling error! 😪
Thanks for the reactions, I enjoy watching you as I have said before . I sent a request a while ago a coffee request wondering if you missed it,or is in the line . It was for Y have lost that loving feeling by john farnham, with Anthony Warlow and Oliver Newton-John.
22,000 Japanese troops, including 12,000 veterans of the Pacific South Seas Army, who fought in Manchuria, Hong Kong, Malaysia, landed at Buna/ Gona and were met with 542 Australian militia, this was the start of the battle of the Kokoda track. The Japanese had defeated the British In Malyasia and the Americans in The Philippines but eventually the Japanese at Buna and Gona were totally destroyed, with the Australians entering the compound over the dead bodies of their own fallen that the Japanese had pile up as their sand bags and cut slices off to eat as they were down to starvation, the Australians entered the compound even as the artillery that they had bought up by hand over the most dense tropical jungles and mountains was still firing and landing in the Japanese compound as the Australians entered.
Walking the Kokoda Track has become a pilgrimage for thousands of Australians every year, bringing valuable tourism dollars to the local community. However, it was abruptly closed recently in a dispute over unpaid millions of dollars in development grants agreed to by the PNG government. Maybe the Australian Government could step in, just sayin'. Just before you stopped the video, the lyrics are "With black angels there to guide them". The black angels, also lovingly called "fuzzy wuzzy angels", were of course the New Guinea tribesmen who were crucial to that muddy, bloody victory. My uncle's plane was downed just off the shoreline, two of his crew killed and the rest of them sitting ducks. Instead of the enemy, out of the jungle appeared tribesmen who brought them to shore and looked after them. I grew up on stories of the "fuzzy wuzzy angels," which through today's lens sounds racist as hell, because these were incredibly brave tribespeople, countless thousands of whom died. "As fighting ramped up, particularly along the legendary Kokoda Track from the Owen Stanley mountain range to the vital post at Port Moresby, the Australians discovered a new dimension to the Papuan peoples. Australian forces fighting the Japanese in this forbidding region suffered heavy casualties, and often in the course of fighting wounded men became separated from their units, or isolated away from adequate medical care. Natives, though, treated wounded and lost Australians with great kindness, providing them with food and shelter or carrying them many miles back to the Allied lines-all at great risk to themselves, and for no rewards asked or promised. Australians took to calling the New Guineans “Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels,” and journalists made much of their heroism."
G'day Mike. I'm a Mike too, so pleased to meet ya, Brother with the same name😃 Just wondering if you could have a listen to another Slim Dusty song? Song "The Birdsville Track", is based on a true-to-life event. "The Page family were a British migrant family who died from thirst in the desert in Australia in 1964." Thanks mate.
First time the Japanese lost a ground campaign I think. Ex Australian Wallaby rugby player named Peter Fitzsimons did a fantastically indepth novel about it worth a read👍 Interesting days ahead take care mate 🇺🇲🙏🇭🇲
Hey, if you're looking for some light entertainment after these tear jerkers please checkout The Odd Angry Shot an Australian film set in the Vietnam war, great for a laugh.cheers
I'm 74 Aussie, did time in our Australian Army, I'm saying nothing about me, but I met some of the best examples of true men during my time, never leave your mates.
You did your country proud brother.
As an Aussie thank you mate
I am a very proud daughter of one of these heroes he had just returned from Palestine & he was also Rat of Tobruk
God bless him...and you. You must be so proud❤
So was my dad, I'm a very proud daughter of a RAT
My Dad fought in New Guinea in WWII, not in Kokoda but other parts. Conditions were terrible with monsoon rains and the humidity, they were constantly soaked to the skin,he survived and came home but caught malaria and had other health issues which affected him for the rest of his life. He never complained and passed at 89, he'll always be my hero.
🤗♥️
“You can’t train someone to rush at gunfire, they have to have a brave heart.” You got your words together.
My father was stationed in Port Moresby(Capital of Papua-New Guinea) with the Royal Australian Air Force, at the time of the Kokoda Campaign. Seeing the wounded soldiers being carried down from the Kokoda Track by the Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels, left an indelible impression on him until the day he died. After experiencing a similar situation in Vietnam, while serving with the Royal Australian Navy; l was able to understand what he was feeling, and how it affected the both of us. I wear my dad's war medals, as well as my own; and celebrate both our service, every ANZAC Day. The ANZAC tradition is a longstanding heritage, that is taken with pride in any conflict our service personnel are involved; to disrespect this tradition, would be to cast a stain upon those who gave it all,for their countrymen and women.
Great story Jay, thank you.
My Uncle fought in New Guinea and the black angels mentioned in the song were the New Guinea natives who helped our troops . My Uncle called them the fuzzy wuzzies they hated the Japanese.
A neighbour when I was growing up was a veteran who served in New Guinea would never talk about it. Even threw out bamboo blinds his wife bought for the house.
Yet, he was proud to have fought in the desert and to be a Rat of Tobruk.
Brave men!
I am fortunate enough, to be old enough to have seen these men and women, and some who served in WW1, march on ANZAC day. Every one a hero...
Aussie combat vet
l did my time downrange(l’m nothing special) but l served with some of the greatest people on this planet. NOBODY LEFT BEHIND 🇦🇺🇺🇸
"Some of the greatest people on the planet" best quote yet my friend
@@SonofBuck-f7z
Aussie combat vet
SEMPER FI brother 🇦🇺🇺🇸
Thank you for your service Sir🇭🇲🇭🇲🇭🇲🇭🇲
@@aussiebornandbred
Aussie combat vet
If you knew some of the things I had to do you wouldn’t be thanking me,believe me I don’t deserve it
The Papua-New Guinea Campaign was Australia's first genuine experience of 'jungle' warfare. This experience was of great benefit to the service personnel that were sent to Vietnam, some 20 years later.
They didn't hesitate to go and face the Japanese...they needed to protect their families who were just across the Torres Straight. They will forever be heroes - Lest We Forget 🇦🇺
Most of these men were the children of the first world war veterans and grew up in the depression, so they were already hard as nails.
He mentions theGolden Staircase which is one of the steepest parts of the Trail. Virtually straight up and muddy when they walked it. The Australian troops were supported by the local people known as the Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels and lead by Lt Bert Kienzle who had a plantation at Kokoda and also told Australian command about Myola where supplies were airdropped. I met Bert in 1980 and he was a humble man and hero.
My Dad was waiting in Darwin to go to PNG when the Japanese part of the war was declared over. He did 4 years in the middle east first, along with 6 Uncles and one of my Grandfathers was a 5th Light horseman in WWI. Dad lived to 92 and Mum nearly 97. Slim Dusty RIP. This is a beautiful tribute to our so brave Diggers and the wonderful Fuzzy Wuzzies. Thank you for your wonderful words Mike ❤❤❤
No words from this Aussie. Lest We Forget! 😔🇦🇺
We don't celebrate ANZAC day we commemorate it to honour their sacrifice.
You can still do the Kokoda trek - which even today is apparently still very difficult without the war fare and having to carry what they did - my brother went with our school when he was 16 to do the trek back in the 70's - a lot of the 'Fuzzy Wuzzies' that is native New Guineans who were there with the Aussies on the Kokoda trail were still alive and they met them - there was a great respect between them and the Australian soldiers - Slim sang it in this song - " Black Angels'
It’s always good to get a dose of reality . Much respect for all those that served for our country. It cuts deeper coming from Slim . Watching this makes me proud to be an Aussie. Thx Mike
Thanks for the respect. My husband’s, who himself is a veteran, father. He served during WWII, on the Kokoda Trail/Track and in the Pacific. He rarely spoke about it except for one incident on the KT. He was shot on his 21st birthday, fell into a ravine and, luckily, was rescued by the Fuzzy Wuzzy Angles. He 😮kept in contact with them even after the war was over.
@@JayMills-zk1kq that's lovely to hear. What a special relationship and memory.
@@jenniferanderson1499 thank you.
The fall of Singapore lost15,000 Australians to prisoners, so the Kokoda Trail was all manned by 'new' troops. 1000's of Australians have walked the Trail in their honour
Weren't new they were choccos or part time soldiers
They didnt want to surrender, they were ORDERED to, but many disobeyed, including one, Robert McLaren, whom you should google up if you want a GOOD story....the original RAMBO !
Thanks Mike, I'll watch it again later too many tears! 😪 You are absolutely right, in those days a man stood up for what he believed in, for his country, for his mates, for his family and community without hesitation! I worked with a man years ago, who had been a POW of the Japanese, horrifying, he turned up to work every day to keep occupied and useful! There are organised tours of the still difficult Kokoda Trail, it's a sort of right of passage for some young Australians! Lest we forget! 🌄
Thanks for the comment Jennifer. It gives me insight into some of these brave men.
@@SonofBuck-f7z Thanks Mike, I believe I was lucky to have met him!
Thanks Mike. My Uncle went up and down then back up Kokoda while my Father who had been at the Battle of Milne Bay went up to capture it. Both were in the 2/25 Battalion. My Uncle led the first Patrol into Lae when it was recaptured. The Trail is about 100 km (60 miles) long and most of it is 300 m ((1000 feet) up, 200 m (660 feet) down and then all over again up to its highest peak of 2200 m (7200 feet) and most of it is jungle. And we managed to win despite Macarthur.
Thanks for sharing
Lest we forget
I love old Slim 🙏
Slim wife could sing too. She wrote lights on the hill
Lest We Forget🌺
Cheers Mike and all vets around the world
Cheers to the pupa for carrying our guys out as well
We of this generation, or past or still to come owe so much to these brave souls, who fought for their country, for us and for their lives. A lot of veterans that returned from any war didn’t return the same people, and in a lot of cases our governments weren’t there for them, with limited resources for these brave men and woman the system in a lot of cases let them down and had far too little resources to help them put their lives back together. In a lot of other cases when they returned, a lot of them continue to serve, whether it be still in the military in some capacity or a lot joined law enforcement and we take their contribution to the public, whether they where vets or not, for granted and don’t give them the respect they deserve, risking their lives to enforce the law and keep us safe. To run towards a hail of bullets is an unimaginable and brave thing to do, to fight for what you believe in and to protect and serve. We owe our way of life to these brave people, still here or unfortunately been taken from us, we thank you and should always remember you, and to march on that one day, the least we can do is applaud you and remember.
great comment to those who served you.
Slim was magic he was a historian with his songs of Australian history .My grandfather on my mothers side helped clean up after the Hiroshima bomb which ended the war he was a truck driver for the Australian army in Japan for 7 years .
Beautiful. Slim sure had a way with words. Thanks Mike.
My Uncle fighting on Kokada Track was injured the Northen Territory native saved him by taking him to the closes Australian army Doctor.😗🦒
Hi Mike! Thanks for reacting to this! I love Slim Dusty’s songs, however I haven’t heard this one! It’s beautiful! Thanks again! Peace and Blessings to you and yours from Australia!
All our experienced troops and best equipment were in Europe and Africa. So, the defence against the Japanese was left to a hastily constructed army of nearly 100% unbloodied and barely trained recruits. They were fighting Japanese veterans of their Chinese war, and the hope was they could delay them long enough for our troops to return from Europe. Yet they did more than that. They dented Japanese pride and pushed them back. Then the Americans joined the effort, and that is when Australia's reliance on England ended. The USA became our major ally and has remained so.
😪
The US might be our major ally but don't forget that as far as alliances go they only joined in the last months of WW1 for economic reasons as in they realised they wouldn't have loans repaid. If it wasn't for Pearl Harbor they would not have joined WW2 - they sat back and made squillions out of the Allies. The UK for example, only paid off its debt in 2006. The rest of the world bankrupted itself to win and the US emerged as the major economic power as a direct result. As far as being allies on the ground is concerned its too late to talk to Australian soldiers from WW2 and probably Vietnam as well but I'm 70 and I have talked to a lot of ex-soldiers over the years and I can assure you that our soldiers including my Father and Uncle from WW2 and cousins from Vietnam did not have much regard for American soldiers (including the stoned Septic who shot my cousin's arm off in Saigon on the day before he was due to fly home after his 12 months' service in the front line infantry in-country. Even the US Medical Corp admitted that 15% (call that more like 20%) of the servicemen had heroin "problems". Macarthur famously asked Australian General Blamey after Kokoda if he wanted more troops (after no support for 5 months) and he replied "We want soldiers who will fight". In Vietnam Australia when agreeing to increase troop numbers insisted that we not be under US control and have our own Province Phouc Tuy. The most common response whenever I asked anybody who'd been in Vietnam before that where the worst place to be was anywhere near a Yank. The alliance so far has always been one-way and I wouldn't be too confident of the Yanks rushing to help us if it didn't suit them.
@@warrenturner397 Yes, I agree! Our Vietnam and Afghanistan soliders have many reasons to be appalled! Also, it was US soldiers from Vietnam who first brought in the heroin to Kings Cross, Sydney!
@@jenniferharrison8915 Exactly Jennifer. I get sick and tired of seeing this crap about the Yanks being the best thing since sliced bread and bottled beer without knowing absolutely anything about what actually went on or speaking to people first-hand.
@@warrenturner397 When the USA entered WWI, they insisted they fight beside Australia. They sold us nuclear submarines and F35 fighter jets with upgraded electronics. So, I have no fear they are strong allies and a few bad troops amongst the many does not change their overall bravery or commitment.
What beautiful words. Thank you Slim. One of my great uncles was on the Kokoda and his brother was a Rat of Tobruk, both came home. To live those years, whether at home or serving abroad was hard and for some, horrendous. Hats off to all who endured. Proud of you all. Thank you to that generation
I would suggest watching the movie Kokoda from 2006 for an idea of the terrain and style of fighting involved.
Look at the battle of Long Tan in Vietnam
aussie here and they were brave all right. I do not doubt for a second that the current generation would do it also. (I'm 64 and the young'uns are pretty damn good)
G'day Mike, My father in Law was one of the men Slim is singing about. RIP Bert Klobe.
Thanks Mike another great reaction and thankyou for the respect shown.
Thanks Mike, like to think of my self as a patriotic Aussie.I grew up with the pub bands of the 80s and 90s, I'm 60 now and thanks to your channel I'm hearing this for the first time.
A Texan introducing an Australian to an Aussie song.
Thanks Tony
salute
If you're interested in Australia history.. Eric Bogle wrote the beautiful song "And the band played waltzing Matilda"
From ww1
Thanks for your reaction and thoughts... made me a little misty watching.
One of the great parts of the Kokoda story is that it was the militia which was sent to initially stop the Japanese advance, and they were almost pushed the off the track. There was a lot of criticism that they were not up to the job but they proved to be adaptable and resilient and combined with the AIF they overcame the Japanese, whose supply lines had become too stretched. It is a great story of resilience and bravery. I grew up in PNG but am an Aussie...as young kids, my brother and i would find shells, and full bullets buried in our yard, and we even found a sniper sight once. All the hills had bomb craters on them. A fun upbringing.
Lunchtime with Mike.
A solemn affair today. Haven't heard this before but i will definitely watch it again.
🇦🇺LEST WE FORGET 🇦🇺
Yes Sir, "Lest we forget" is correct.
Theres a good one called something in the pilliga by slim dusty its a great song and the pilliga is one of the most active forest in australia for entities
Prior to, and during the Papua-New Guinea Campaign, Australia suffered our own 'PearlHarbour' with the bombing of Darwin; this bombing was followed by further bombings, across the north and north-west coasts of mainland Australia. That was the closest to invading Australia, by the Japanese; not excluding the midget sub raid on Sydney Harbour.
It was the same task force that hit Pearl Harbour. But this task force was supplemented by land based bombers
My great uncle was a volunteer bomber pilot around our coast, instrumental in saving a US carrier and many civilians by destroying air and sea attacks! His plane, body and crew, are submerged somewhere near New Guinea! A refueling error! 😪
I'm sorry you and your family lost a great patriot.
Love your channel and I am now a new subscriber by the way.
Top notch reaction.
Thanks for the reactions, I enjoy watching you as I have said before . I sent a request a while ago a coffee request wondering if you missed it,or is in the line . It was for Y have lost that loving feeling by john farnham, with Anthony Warlow and Oliver Newton-John.
22,000 Japanese troops, including 12,000 veterans of the Pacific South Seas Army, who fought in Manchuria, Hong Kong, Malaysia, landed at Buna/ Gona and were met with 542 Australian militia, this was the start of the battle of the Kokoda track. The Japanese had defeated the British In Malyasia and the Americans in The Philippines but eventually the Japanese at Buna and Gona were totally destroyed, with the Australians entering the compound over the dead bodies of their own fallen that the Japanese had pile up as their sand bags and cut slices off to eat as they were down to starvation, the Australians entered the compound even as the artillery that they had bought up by hand over the most dense tropical jungles and mountains was still firing and landing in the Japanese compound as the Australians entered.
Walking the Kokoda Track has become a pilgrimage for thousands of Australians every year, bringing valuable tourism dollars to the local community. However, it was abruptly closed recently in a dispute over unpaid millions of dollars in development grants agreed to by the PNG government. Maybe the Australian Government could step in, just sayin'.
Just before you stopped the video, the lyrics are "With black angels there to guide them". The black angels, also lovingly called "fuzzy wuzzy angels", were of course the New Guinea tribesmen who were crucial to that muddy, bloody victory. My uncle's plane was downed just off the shoreline, two of his crew killed and the rest of them sitting ducks. Instead of the enemy, out of the jungle appeared tribesmen who brought them to shore and looked after them. I grew up on stories of the "fuzzy wuzzy angels," which through today's lens sounds racist as hell, because these were incredibly brave tribespeople, countless thousands of whom died.
"As fighting ramped up, particularly along the legendary Kokoda Track from the Owen Stanley mountain range to the vital post at Port Moresby, the Australians discovered a new dimension to the Papuan peoples. Australian forces fighting the Japanese in this forbidding region suffered heavy casualties, and often in the course of fighting wounded men became separated from their units, or isolated away from adequate medical care. Natives, though, treated wounded and lost Australians with great kindness, providing them with food and shelter or carrying them many miles back to the Allied lines-all at great risk to themselves, and for no rewards asked or promised. Australians took to calling the New Guineans “Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels,” and journalists made much of their heroism."
Wonderful story, thank you.
❤
It’s been over 100 years.
God Bless the Fuzzy Wuzzy's,,
G'day Mike. I'm a Mike too, so pleased to meet ya, Brother with the same name😃
Just wondering if you could have a listen to another Slim Dusty song?
Song "The Birdsville Track", is based on a true-to-life event. "The Page family were a British migrant family who died from thirst in the desert in Australia in 1964."
Thanks mate.
First time the Japanese lost a ground campaign I think. Ex Australian Wallaby rugby player named Peter Fitzsimons did a fantastically indepth novel about it worth a read👍 Interesting days ahead take care mate 🇺🇲🙏🇭🇲
Hi, I am an Aussie. I was watching and enjoying the reaction. Just a small question. What is the badge hanging from the wall behind you. Just curious.
This was after they bomd Dawin.
They were owen guns, not Thompsons, bullets from a Thompson would bounce off!
Hey, if you're looking for some light entertainment after these tear jerkers please checkout The Odd Angry Shot an Australian film set in the Vietnam war, great for a laugh.cheers
The barely trained men only a few weeks were called Chocolate Soldiers or CHOCOS
Lest we forget