Not left behind

Destroyed: The wreckage of Dakota A65-61 sits at 14,100ft in the Carstensz Ranges of Indonesian Papua. Exercise Dakota Recovery covered the remains of the 29 personnel killed in the crash 60 years ago. Photos by Cpl Craig Eager

Cloud cover: Visibility falls as the cloud rolls into the camp site at 14,100ft during the recovery of the remains. Photo by Cpl Craig Eager

From the ruins: Flt-Lt Greg Williams cleans the dog tags which belonged to Lt Alun Jones, found at the site of the Dakota crash. Photo by Cpl Craig Eager

Solemn: Members of the AFG fold the flag during the ceremonial burial of one of the Army victims from Dakota A65-61. Also buried at the service were another seven Army and three Air Force victims and a communal coffin containing remains of the other victims, who could not be positively identified. Photo by Cpl Simone Liebelt

We remember: AFG members walk through Bomana War Cemetery in Port Moresby after a memorial service for the 29 crew and passengers killed in an aircraft crash in 1945. Photo by Cpl Cindy Ipsen

Supplies: LAC Daniel Pedergast helps Wg-Cdr Rowley Tompsett unload supplies from the Airfast chopper at the temporary helipad.

Recovered: This medical chest was found intact at the crash site along with vials of morphine, bottles of hair oil, medical instruments and other various medical supplies. It belonged to RAAF Sister Marie Craig.

At the end of World War II, Dakota flight A65-61 left Morotai with 29 defence personnel on board. It crashed en route to Townvsille. Cpl Simone Liebelt reports on the interment ceremony in PNG.

A YOUNG soldier who hitched a ride on an ill-fated RAAF flight 60 years ago has finally been laid to rest.

Lt Alun Jones was buried with full military honours at the Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery at Bomana on August 10, in a special funeral service for the victims of Dakota flight A65-61.

It was the first time the World War II digger had been officially recognised as a victim of the RAAF’s worst air disaster, which killed 29 passengers and crew – including 19 Army personnel – on September 18, 1945.

Lt Jones’ niece Judith Arkell was among more than 50 relatives flown by Hercules to attend the moving service at Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea.

Judith wasn’t even born when her uncle vanished. It was only weeks after the war had ended and the young officer was trying to get home to his wife and one-year-old son in Brisbane. He was last seen boarding the Dakota, call sign – Charlie Uniform Tango, at Morotai, near Borneo.

According to Judith, “He was supposed to be coming home by ship, but his brother-in-law, Warrant Officer Eric Wilkinson, was a crewmember on the plane and was able to get him a seat at the last minute”.

The medical evacuation flight was bringing home 17 wounded soldiers from the recent war zone when it disappeared on the way to Townsville.

There was no trace of the aircraft for 25 years, until its wreckage was spotted on the side of a 14,100ft mountain in the Carstensz Ranges of Indonesian Papua.

The first recovery attempt in 1970 led to a military service at Bomana War Cemetery honouring all the victims, except for Lt Jones. Following a further attempt in 1999 to recover remains from the inhospitable crash site, the difficult task was completed in June this year by a team from the RAAF and Indonesian Air Force. They found a significant quantity of remains and other personal effects including identification tags (dog tags), watches and glasses. Lt Jones’ remains and dog tags were amongst them.

At the service on August 10, he finally received a full military funeral in front of his new headstone, which now sits alongside the other victims. Also buried at the service were eight Army and three Air Force victims who had been positively identified and a communal coffin containing remains of the other victims.
Before her uncle’s burial, Judith placed photos of him and his wife Jean onto his flag-draped coffin, as well as stones from his gravesite in Brisbane.

“It’s very emotional for me to see his coffin here and know that his remains are actually in there after all this time,” she said.

“Although Alun was on the plane, he wasn’t on the manifest so he was never officially recognised as being on board.

“It’s only after his dog tags were found and returned to my Aunt Jean recently that we could get some closure.”

During the ceremony, the Army, RAAF and Indonesian Defence Force provided honour guards and members of Australia’s Federation Guard fired volleys over the graves. There was a fly-past by a RAAF Hercules and a lone bugler played the Last Post.

Also present were members of 21 Const Sqn, who were in Port Moresby working with the PNG Defence Force, and serving members who were escorting veterans for the 60th anniversary of the Battle of Milne Bay.

Addressing the crowd on behalf of CA Gen Peter Leahy, Brig Brian Dawson said the Victory in the Pacific was achieved in part by those on board that fateful flight.

“Of the 29 on board, 19 were members of the Australian Army, most of who were suffering wounds and medical conditions, and were being returned to Australia for better medical care,” Brig Dawson said.

“Many of these men had been wounded in the final battles of World War II fought in Borneo and other places in the Pacific. Their lives were to be tragically cut short in their flight to safety and to home.”

After the service, Wg-Cmdr Rowley Tompsett – who was in charge of the recovery effort – presented an Australian flag and slouch hat to a family representative of each Army victim.

He had also previously handed out dog tags and other recovered possessions to family members.

“I don’t think there could have been a better ending to the Charlie Uniform Tango tragedy,” Wg-Cdr Tompsett said.

“We had brothers and sisters, sons and daughters and nieces and nephews present and it’s pretty humbling to realise how much it meant to these folk, even 60 years after the event.

“I didn’t expect the raw emotion, particularly when I handed out the ID tags. It was very touching, and I’ve got to say, one of the most significant things I’ve done in my 20 years service.”



Army fatality list

Pte Keith Bowden
Pte Laurie Coombe
Tpr George Duffy
Gnr John Eiszele
Pte Mervyn Ford
Sgt Arthur Hyde
Tpr Frederick Ireland
Lt Alun Jones
Pte Arthur Jorgensen
Spr James McDougall
Pte Ian McDowall
Pte John McAlorum
Tpr Ronald Mathieson
Spr John Matthews
Pte Leonard Oakley
Pte Ian Ray
Pte Donald Smith
Pte James Tindall
Cpl George Welch

Lives recalled

Grace Satchell

Her first husband was Pte Laurie Coombe.

“I still find it very emotional as he was my first real love, and you don’t get over that do you? I love him as much now as I did then.

We were only married about three years; I worked with him and I liked him from a distance, and unbeknown to me, he liked me too. I used to think, ‘when will he talk to me?’ And one wonderful day, he asked me out. We were very quickly in love and it wasn’t long before I was asking mum if I could get married.

He had been away at war most of the time, and he had a fractured leg, which is why he was coming home.

Being here has brought back a lot of nostalgia; I’ve touched some of his possessions for the first time – things that belonged to someone I loved and still love. It certainly has given me closure, as it’s good to know where the bodies are finally resting.”

Keith Hearne

He served with Pte Trevor Jorgensen, in 2/31 Bn.

“I was wounded one day, and he was wounded three days later, and we both finished up back in Morotai hospital. He was taken down to the airstrip, and they brought him back because he haemorrhaged; and they did that a second time, and then the third time they took him to the plane, he caught the plane.

We had a great mateship and all over the years, it’s just one of those things that’s been in the back of my mind, ‘would they ever find him’, because the plane just disappeared. I brought along a wartime photo of Trevor; there were six of us in the photo from our battalion and I’m the only one who survived.

That weighs pretty heavy on you – you wonder why you’re still alive.”

Gordon Bowden

His brother was Pte Keith Bowden.

“Keith had been wounded and was coming home to be discharged, so he was one of the stretcher cases. I was 18 and a pay clerk in the Air Force, and Keith was 22 and had been in the army for about three years.

“We knew that he was on the aircraft because the fellow down the end of our street had seen Keith be put aboard the plane, and another one of the boys from his unit had come and seen us and told us what happened and how he’d been wounded.

“All we could do was hope and wait, but mum and dad went to their grave without knowing.

“I didn’t know that they had found his dog tags, so it was very, very moving for me to get them, let me assure you. He was the first cab off the rank [to be buried], and he got full ceremonial honours, which was very special.”

Max Welch

His father was Cpl George Welch, 202 Australian General Regt.

“I was only 11 when I got the news that my father had been lost in an air crash, so it was very hard for me. He served in the Middle East before he served in New Guinea and I can remember him coming back off leave because we did quite a lot together. Then peace was declared and I thought ‘my dad’s coming home’ but of course, he didn’t. You can imagine my dismay when they said they had discovered my father’s remains - I had a few tears. I’ve often thought about it, but now that my father’s remains have been positively identified, it is a great comfort to me.

“Finally being able to say goodbye at the gravesite and also introducing my daughter Belinda and son Stephen to him was very special, because he was the grandfather they never knew.

“I think that I can finally say, well, this is the end of a long, long saga.”