Poowong resident honours fallen uncle in Ambon Anzac pilgrimage

AN EMOTIONAL delegation of 30 Australians recently journeyed to Ambon Island in Indonesia to honour the sacred memory of Gull Force.

After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour in 1941 1,131 Australian soldiers of Gull Force were sent to Ambon in Indonesia to assist Netherlands East Indies troops protect the island.

Among the pilgrims were Poowong resident Colin Monk, his brother Robert Monk, and their cousin Ian Swan. Together with 27 friends, relatives, and fellow descendants, they stood in the pre-dawn stillness of the tropical island for a deeply moving Anzac Day Dawn Service.

The men made the long journey to Ambon to pay tribute to their uncle, Private Reginald Wade Monk who was one of 229 Australian soldiers systematically massacred by invading Japanese forces on February 20, 1942. Following the slaughter, the bodies of the fallen soldiers were hastily buried in a mass grave, causing their individual identities to be lost.

The site of their suffering holds a layered, sombre history. Prior to World War II, the grounds served as a Dutch army barracks. Following the Allied surrender, the Japanese transformed the compound into a brutal prisoner of war camp, operational until 1945.

After the war, the blood-soaked compound was permanently converted into the Ambon Commonwealth War Cemetery. During the post-war cleanup, the mass graves were carefully exhumed. Because individual identification was impossible, the soldiers were reinterred with individual 'Unknown Soldier' headstones and plaques.

To ensure no man was forgotten, authorities erected a prominent Honour Board within the cemetery grounds, now permanently etched with the names of all those who lost their lives.

Despite being overwhelmingly outnumbered and outgunned Australian troops put up a fierce resistance at key locations across the island. The defence of Laha airfield was particularly desperate, held by a small detachment of about 300 Australian troops. Outmanoeuvred and running out of ammunition, the defenders were forced to surrender. It was here, near the airfield, that the horrific massacres took place.

Australian prisoners of war (POWs) interned at Ambon faced severe malnutrition, disease and neglect. Only 123 of the Australians left on Ambon in late 1942 remained alive by the end of the war in the Pacific. It was one of the highest death tolls of Australians in captivity.

For Colin, Robert, and Ian, the trip involved visits to several highly significant wartime sites around the island. Beyond the Commonwealth War Cemetery, which exclusively holds the graves of those who died during the conflict, the group visited a dedicated memorial erected for the few survivors of the gruelling campaign.

Of the original Gull Force contingent, only a small fraction survived the horrific camp conditions and executions to return home to Australia. Standing where their uncle once stood, the Monk brothers and Ian Swan brought the spirit of Poowong to the Indonesian soil, ensuring that the legacy of Reginald Wade Monk and the brave men of Gull Force will continue to burn brightly for generations to come.

The Gull Force Association continues to actively support the people of Ambon and in particular local children by providing assistance with school and sporting ventures.

A list of South Gippsland soldiers was found and photographed including plaques belonging to two sets of brothers who died in the massacre, JL and RT Wheildon of Mirboo North and DK and SA Jackson of Korumburra. Another two brothers AC and M Bolding died two days apart in July 1945. Other soldiers listed on plaques were JR Field of Ruby, JF Elmore of Korumburra, JL Simmons of Mt Eccles, OH Uren of Fish Creek and ML Wightman of Leongatha. Their uncle Reg Monk and Harold Smethurst also died in camp.

Apologies were offered to those families whose plaques were not found.

Thanks was given to Gull Force for their contribution and sacrifice. The opening lines of a poem written and shared by Robert Monk captures the spirit of the emotional journey.

I never knew my uncle, he was killed in the Second World War.

He was sadly executed on the Ambon shore.

That same day in Timor his brother could have met the same fate.

It was a bad day for the family, that 20th of February date.

The year was 1942 and he was 26 years old.

It left the family grieving for his life could not unfold.

Reginald Wade Monk was the uncle I did not meet.

I never got to shake his hand or with his children greet.