By Jeremy Sollars
AT the age of 94, Len Acworth is one of Warwick’s oldest Diggers, but his memories of active service during the Battle of Milne Bay are still fresh in his mind.
Len was 19 when he signed up as an infrantryman in the Australian Army in his birthplace of Brisbane, along with his twin brother Ernie, with whom he fought alongside in one of the pivotal battles of the Second World War in the Pacific.
Milne Bay – on the south-eastern tip of Papua – was selected for development as an Allied base with three airstrips in 1942.
Late on the night of 25 August 1942, a force of 2000 Japanese marines landed at Milne Bay, and were driving towards Port Moresby.
Flawed intelligence led the Japanese to believe there were only a few hundred troops defending the airstrips, where in fact there were almost 9000 Allied troops in the garrison.
What followed in the coming few days was an Allied barrage of infantry and artillery which forced the Japanese to withdraw, and by 7 September they had evacuated, with Milne Bay seen as the first major battle of the war in the Pacific in which Allied troops decisively defeated Japanese land forces.
“They copped hell,” Len says simply of the battle.
“I was as fit as a Mallee bull in those days – there were some bloody good blokes in my platoon, most of them will be gone now.
“I’d have liked to have met up with them all again – I did have one of my mates, Harry Sinclair, visit me here in Warwick about three years ago.
“The ones that are still alive are probably trying to beat me to 100.”
Len says while the courage of the Australian troops was beyond question, some of the ‘Yanks’ would run for cover in the trenches their Aussie counterparts had just dug when the Japanese ‘Zeroes’ went over.
“But some of the Yanks were all right,” he said. “We built those trenches as soon as we got there.”
Len said he was pleased to see the younger generations taking more of an interest in Remembrance Day, and also offered his thoughts on the US presidential election.
“It’s a bloody joke, isn’t it?” he laughed.
Len settled in Warwick with his wife Phyllis and their three children a few years after the war, having moved to expand a floor sanding and tiling business he and Ernie started in Toowoomba.
Warwick’s Leslie Park could soon be home to a new and impressive War Memorial Wall and dias, all thanks to the Warwick Community Development Anzac Memorial Committee.
The dias is planned to include a memorial wall displaying plaques that commemorate every service campaign Australia has been involved in since the Boer War to the current service in conjunction with the Iraq Army.
The committee is hoping to include a “quality structure that acknowledges the supreme sacrifice made by 102,000 men and women in maintaining our nation’s freedom”.
The plan is to feature “free form sandstone seating for both private reflection and use at commemorative services”.
Should you wish to provide a financial contribution towards this worthwhile project, transfer with the following details – Account Number: 100004705, BSB: 817 001, Account Name: Warwick Community Development ANZAC Memorial Committee.
Warwick’s Remembrance Day service will commence at 11am in Leslie Park tomorrow, Friday 11 November.
