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TIMOTHY Ungaia, Doroda of Buna Village makes a poignant and unassailable statement:
"The Japanese had no carriers. That is why they lost the war", he says. And Timothy Ungaia should know, he was a carrier himself.
In December, 1942, Papuan Government anthropologist F.E. Williams drew up a set of rules and advice which was published as the booklet You and the Native and became the Allied Forces' manual for native relations.
Readers were reminded that native goodwill might decide the outcomeof the New Guinea war.
"Keep on the right side of them…the native is nearly, if not quite, as good a man as you are," advised Williams.
"Don't underrate his intelligence. The big difference is that you and your forefathers have had better opportunities…in New Guinea bushcraft,in hardihood, in mobility, he leaves you standing.
"Don't believe it when you are told that he has the mentality of a child. That is rubbish…he has a grown upmind, grownup feelings and grown up dignity. Respect them all."
This early advice was taken on board seriously and as predicted, proved to be a deciding factor in the war's outcome.
Accounts of war carriers and eyewitness accounts show that because of the respect given to the natives, there was fierce loyalty in bringing ammunition, water and food to the Australian frontline soldiers and carrying their heavy guns up hills to position them for the Australians to fight.
In the Kokoda area, many war labourers built shelters for the troops and more carriers distributed food supplies in these shelters and ammunition in preparation for the war.
When hostilities actually broke out, the Allied soldiers were not only well-equipped but they received the constant backing of native carriers who carried their wounded to safety. The Japanese, considered by most locals to be the enemy, were denied such help.
By 1942, systematic recruiting in Papua's southern districts had brought operational carrier numbers to 1250 on the Kokoda Track and 1000 with Americans in the Rigo-Tufi-Buna areas.
These forces merged at Buna in 1942. With local recruitment in the conquered areas of Mambare District and recovery of Lae and Rabaul carriers brought by the Japanese,numbers grew tomore than 6000 by the end of the Buna campaign.
The Japanese did not have the benefit of such strong back-up and many died of starvation or were eaily defeated because they ran out of ammunition.
Most of the local recruits were people from the coastal villages "tamed" by missionaries first and given a bit of schooling.
War correspondent Omar White is quoted in Alan Powell's The Third Force: "If there is a war in New Guinea – and there are times when I believe any war to be negligible against the face of this land – these are the people who are fighting it now, the polers and the paddlers…the people of the rivers and swamps and hills who come and hire their bodies for tobacco and die of pneumonia, exposure, exhaustion, in the evil mountains, who carry the white man's burden – a load of death – into a far strange land."
famous_fuzzy_angel500jpg.jpgWe are proud to state that all our treks are led by proud Papua New Guinean's who walk in the footsteps of the "Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels" of yesteryear!
All our porters and guides whilst they enjoy earning a living from carrying backpacks; act as food porters; companions and showing you a great time; none of them have forgotten what happened in their province during World War II.
We have young lads all the way from Sogeri down to Buna & Gona who want to find work and serve you the trekkers by ensuring they take care of you just like they did during the war.
As Russell always says to me, I try and pick a good mix of boys who will work well together and who are true bushmen. They have grown up on the rivers, it is their life. Where we as Australians very rarely ever go in a river, the people who live in these parts use it everyday to survive.
They build their villages alongside rivers; women use the water for cooking; washing; swimming; rafting etc. Out on the Kokoda Trail it is easy for them to construct bush bridges and anything else required to get you from a to b.
Recently when one of our treks left Sogeri in pouring rain, I heard on the radio that the first group had built a raft to get the backpacks across the flooded Goldie River.
Summary: Today we may not be at war with the Japanese, but the people we employ as guides and porters, are still your carriers. They will do anything and everything to make sure you achieve your aim of walking the Kokoda Trail.
Today we are proud to announce that they have once again came to the party and have managed to take from Ower's Corner to Kokoda a man who is visually impaired and who needed their help to ensure he succeeded in finishing his trek.
A guy by the name of Tom, has been an 81 year old veteran's lifeline as he walked in the same direction and who will arrive in Kokoda tomorrow to a hero's welcome.
Yes, the 'Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels are alive and well and once again acting as carriers on the infamous Kokoda Trail:
Young Australian Cadets out on the Kokoda Trail with their very own Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels:
Cadets.jpgLots of helping hands make river crossings less daunting:
Helping_Hand_3.jpgEven when trekkers want to do it on their own, our guides and porters are always on hand watching to make sure they come to no harm:
Chris___Russell_River_Cross.jpgMy sub contractor Russell Eroro on the Kokoda Trail during one of his many treks in 2004:
Copy_of_Russell_at_Naoro_crossing.jpg
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