Our People in QLD
Sergeant Noel Chillago and Corporal Pana Canaweka - Bravo Company Men Pay Their Respects to War Dead
Sergeant Noel Chillago and Corporal Pana Canaweka, will be in Belgium along with twenty other soldiers from their Battalion. They will be at the military funeral of five diggers killed 90 years ago during the Battle of Passchendaele, whose bodies were recently discovered during pipeline excavations.
Due to road relocation shortly after World War I, their bodies had been missed when the remains of other soldiers were removed to permanent war graves nearby. DNA testing has confirmed the names of two of the five soldiers, and one, Sergeant Calder, was from the 51st Battalion AIF.
Family members of the two identified soldiers will also be at the funeral.
Of the 480 soldiers in the battalion, only 21 have been chosen to go to the funeral, and these two are from the Cape York area.
The 51st battalion was raised in 1915 to fight overseas but, over the years, its role has changed. Now its soldiers are mostly reservists who use their local knowledge to patrol the remote coastlines and interiors of the far north.
“In 51 FNQR I am a Patrol Commander,” Sergeant Noel Chillagoe said,
“I organise and manage the patrol members, making sure that we have all the proper equipment.
“I am also here to help train the younger soldiers so that they can do their jobs and one day take over from me and be a Patrol Commander.
“Before this [Belgium trip], the furthest I have been on duty is to Doomadgee as part of the Army Community Assistance Program. It was also good for me because I got a Certificate III as a welder.”
“When I’m back I’ll be down to the Pormpuraaw Hotel to tell people what I’ve seen – if I’m not too jetlagged.”
For Corporal Pana Canaweka it will also be a proud moment.
“As a soldier I contribute to the security of Australia and I get to work and travel a lot. I have trained all over the place,” Pana said.
“I got my driver’s licence at Cooktown, I was boat-qualified at Thursday Island, and was signals-qualified at Cairns.
“I’ve also got trained as a Corporal and patrol second-in-command in Brisbane and Sherger, plus some training in Tully too.
“I’ve already been overseas to Fiji on holiday but this is the furthest I have ever been from home.
When I’m home it will be back to looking after my family.”
On 4 October Noel and Pana will be at the Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood for the funeral of the five Australian soldiers. They and the other Diggers from 51st Battalion will be providing the honour guard. After the funeral, the detachment will take part in local 90th anniversary events.
The next day, the two soldiers and their fellow Diggers will represent the Australian Army at the evening ceremony at the Menin Gate, Ypres, by the road which led from this ancient regional town to the battlefield. The citizens of Ypres hold this ceremony at 8pm every night of the year.
Some 60,000 Australians — all volunteers — were killed in World War I.