Group joins service for war dead

Courtesy Sunshine Coast Daily 12 August 2010

By Mark Bode

FOR years Wayne Wetherall has enlightened Australians to the horrors inflicted on scores of our World War II Diggers in Papua New Guinea by taking groups along the infamous Kokoda Track.

Now he is determined to shed more light on another atrocity committed against our Diggers by introducing Australians to the story of the Sandakan POW camp and related death marches.

It is one of Australia’s most tragic World War II episodes – a largely unknown snapshot of Japan’s wartime inhumanity on the island of Borneo which led to the deaths of more than 2000 Australian and British soldiers.

Of the 1787 Australian and 642 British soldiers incarcerated at the Sandakan POW camp, only six Diggers survived the three 260km death marches from Sandakan to the Ranau POW camp on the island.

To commemorate the 65th anniversary of the death marches, a special memorial service will be held in Sandakan on Sunday.

Mr Wetherall, the managing director of Sippy Downs-based Wild Spirit and Kokoda Spirit, will be there with a group of nine Australians.

He will lead the group, which includes three Sunshine Coast residents, along the last 140km of the route and across the mountains.

It will be only the second official group that he has taken along the route.

“It really has been one of those tragedies that has been suppressed for so long, and the story only came out in 2006 as to what an awful tragedy this was,” Mr Wetherall said.

Retired police senior sergeant Julie Elliott will be joined on the journey by two other Coast residents, 92.7 MIX FM announcer Mark Darin and Wendy Grieve.

Ms Elliott said: “When I started to hear about Sandakan, I was stunned as to how little I knew and jumped at the chance to learn a bit more.”

See the full story here

Indigenous Youth Group about to embark on the Kokoda Trail

A group of young Indigenous people are about to embark on a trek of the 96km Kokoda Trail and for many it will be their first trip outside their own communities.

The Indigenous Youth Program is a pioneering initiative of the Jobs Australia Foundation to develop the leadership skills in young Indigenous people. The thirteen young people aged 17-22 and seven mentors aged 26-65, will be accompanied by former Olympian and Foundation Patron, Kyle Vander Kuyp.

The group head out on from Owers Corner at midday on Sunday, August 1st and will be led by Wayne Wetherall, Managing Director of Kokoda Spirit.

Wayne participated in the inaugural Jobs Australia four day Indigenous Youth Leadership Program held in Victoria earlier this year. He said, “I am excited and honoured to be leading this fantastic group of young Australians. There will be some nerves among the group as we take our first steps but I am confident that this group will learn a great deal about themselves, about the history of the track and of the local Indigenous Papuan people.”

Mr Wetherall says having Australian Olympian Kyle Vander Kuyp along as a mentor and role model will add a depth to this trek that will benefit everyone fortunate enough to be participating.

“Kyle will bring a wealth of experience, his own life story, its hardships and rewards. He will be an inspiration in developing leadership skills and confidence to the group and I believe we will have leaders of the future among these young people.”

The group will arrive at Port Moresby Airport at 12.30pm on Saturday, July 31st and commence their trek on Sunday, August 1st leaving the Gateway Hotel at 8am and Owers Corner at midday.

Wayne can be contacted on +61 437470008

Download this release                Read about how the trek went here.

Bone Man of Kokoda says he buried Captain Templeton

Courtesy AAP 29 January 2010

By Ilya Gridneff - Papua New Guinea Correspondent

The remains of a fearless World War II Digger stabbed to death for taunting a Japanese officer may at last be laid to rest with all the reverence he deserves.

The real story behind Captain Sam Templeton's disappearance in the Papua New Guinea almost 70 years ago has finally emerged thanks to the selfless dedication of a frail old former trooper in the Japanese Imperial Army.

Ninety-year-old Kokichi Nishimura, known as the Bone Man of Kokoda, says it was he who buried Captain Templeton in a shallow jungle grave following his brutal summary execution soon after he was captured near the Kokoda Track.

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'Bone Man' offers help in Kokoda digger mystery

Courtesy ABC News 25 January 2010

Captain Sam Templeton disappeared in July 1942 near Oivi while trying to warn reinforcements of the heavy Japanese presence in the area.

Now Kokoda tour operator Wayne Weatherall says he may have found Captain Templeton's grave with help from former Japanese soldier Kokichi Nishimura, who says he personally buried Captain Templeton after the Australian was killed for taunting a Japanese officer.

Link to written story ABC website

Hear the audio from ABC AM Program 22 January 2010

Mystery of Kokoda digger's death nearly solved: searchers

Courtesy Herald Sun 25 January 2010

Veteran Kokichi Nishimura, known as the Bone Man of Kokoda for his work in recovering the remains of fallen comrades, was a member of the 2nd battalion, 144th Regiment of Japan's Imperial Army battling Australian
troops in the same area.

Nearly 70 years after the fighting, Mr Nishimura teamed up with Kokoda Spirit trekking company operator Wayne Wetherall to solve the mystery of Captain Templeton's disappearance and find his grave.

Link to written story Herald Sun website

Kurt Fearnley crawls over Kokoda Track with mate by his side

Courtesy Courier Mail 9 November 2009

WHEELCHAIR athlete Kurt Fearnley is crossing Papua New Guinea's Kokoda Track the hard way - by crawling.

And in the iconic trail's spirit of mateship, his friend, Wayne Weatherall, from the Sunshine Coast, is carrying him across the track's muddy waters.

Link to written story Courier Mail website

Hear Kurt Fearnley interviewed on 92.7 Mix FM

Kurt Fearnley - Sunday Night

COURTESY SEVEN NETWORK