Several young Indigenous men from Nowra served in the forces during World War II.
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The group included the Wright brothers – Stan and Joey – Bob Brown and Joe Ardler.
Joe wanted to join the Air Force, but he knew his low maths marks in the intermediate certificate exam would preclude him from qualifying as a pilot.
He approached his former school principal who agreed to coach him in his weak subjects. By sheer hard work, Joe studied and managed to get high marks as a postgraduate student.
He easily passed the stringent physical test and was accepted to train in Canada in the Empire Training Scheme.
However, shortly before he was to leave his home to catch the train to Sydney, a policeman and a manpower officer arrived at his door and handed him a document forbidding him to enlist because was in working in a protected industry as a slaughterman.
Afterwards, he was called up for military service and sent to an engineering unit.
Some time later, Joe applied to transfer to the Air Force and was accepted, however, once again he received a letter from the manpower officer forbidding him to enlist in the Air Force, as he was still considered a slaughterman.
Joe’s commanding officer, who was described as a fiery Middle Eastern veteran, did his best for Joe, but was unable to shake the bureaucrats. He served in an engineering unit for the rest of WWII.
Joe relayed an amazing story from his time in Papua New Guinea.
“I was in Rabaul, soon after the war ended, and we had heard rumours of a hidden valley called ‘Kokapoo’ which was filled with white women,” he said.
“I thought this was just another furphy, but the rumour persisted and I finally asked for and received permission to take a blitz wagon and have a look around.”
Joe and his team found a valley with some living huts on the floor.
“We then discovered some 600 steps cut into the valley wall,” he said.
“We climbed down and found there were white women living in the huts.”
Joe said the women made them feel welcome and asked many questions about life “outside”.
Friendly natives had led them to the hidden valley to be safe from the Japanese.
“One of the nuns kept looking at me and she said ‘I think I know you’ and I said ‘how could you know me?’.
“She asked me if I came from Nowra, on the South Coast of NSW, I said ‘yes’.
“She then said ‘you used to be a butcher’s boy didn’t you’.”
Joe looked at her in amazement and confirmed what she had said.
“I worked for Morisons,” he said.
“She asked ‘do you remember the nun who opened the convent gate for you when you delivered that heavy basket of meat? That was me’.
Joe said it was the only time he ever embraced a nun.