THE FATHER HE NEVER MET

The National newspaper PNG 2 December 2009

‘He was the father I never met. He married his sweetheart

my mother in 1940,’ Fred Logan said.

Mr Logan is the son of one of the four Australian soldiers

whose remains were buried with full military honours at

Bomana War Cemetery in Port Moresby yesterday.

His father the late Lieutenant Talbot Tim Logan, Lance

Sergeant Garrard Wheeler and two unknown soldiers

remains were recovered from the battlefields around

Buna, Sanananda and Isurava in Oro Province. They

were finally put to rest.

Mr Logan in a moving speech said his father had died

instantly after having been shot by sniper fire short of

the beach at Buna. He was 29 years old.

On behalf of our families, I thank the village people at

Buna for the role they played during the war and in

recovering the remains. They were branded ‘fuzzy

wuzzies’. To us they are still angels,’ he said.

He said, ‘I thank the Australian Government, military

families, PNG Government and all the people involved

in allowing us to give our fallen soldiers a proper burial.’

Lieutenant Logan enlisted in the 2/12^th Battalion of the

Australian Army on October 20, 1939 at the age of 26.

From the Wheeler family, Mrs Helen Kirton the sister

of late Lance Sergeant Wheeler spoke of their early

life together as they grew up. She could not believe

Jim being old, even though he would have turned 90

this year.

Mrs Kirton said they did not have the luxury of TV,

mobile phones, DVDs or MP4s enjoyed by today’s

youth.

We had complete freedom and it was safer. She said

they were close and did most things together. They

had lots of pets and enjoyed swimming in the river

and their trips to Manly in Sydney for surfing and

eating fish and chips for 6 pence or a shilling.

I think we would have seen some earliest planes. They

would land in a nearby paddock and it would cost 10

shillings a ride,’ she said.

Lance Sergeant James Wheeler enlisted in the 2^nd AIF

on October 26 1939.

He served in the Middle-East, North Africa and Ceylon

before embarking to Port Moresby on 15^th August 1942.

Lance Sergeant Wheeler would have been 23 years old

when he was killed around Huggins Road Block on the

Soputa/Sanananda Track. It was 1 December 1942.

He was making a gallant attempt to reach a wounded

comrade when he was shot. He was deployed to the

‘Black Force’ to Popondetta and placed in support of

the United States 1 Company, 126 Infantry Division.

For the two unknown soldiers, Defence Advisor Colonel

Luke Foster said that they met their fate in the early 1940s.

They would have shown resilience and courage in defence

of Australia and PNG as we know today.

‘Consider the impact on their families not knowing for over

60 years. This is all about repaying a debt of gratitude,’ he

said.