Installation of Oivi/Gorari Battle Monument (PNG) John Tannock

Abstract

This paper outlines the story behind the installation of a monument in Papua New Guinea to commemorate the Battle for Oivi/Gorari. Most Australians have never heard of the battle yet it was one of the biggest battles of the New Guinea campaign up to that point. An American professor of military history identified the battle as the most significant land battle in the Pacific theatre in WW2 – which is interesting because no Americans took part in the battle. The battle took place in November 1942 in the vicinity of the village of Gorari in PNG. It spanned an eight-day period and cost the lives of 133 Australian Soldiers with an additional 225 soldiers being wounded. One of the wounded in that battle was my father. The journey started when I visited PNG in 2016 and attempted to locate the site near Gorari where my father was wounded. It dawned on me that, while there were many excellent monuments and plaques at less significant battle sites, there was nothing at Gorari to acknowledge the battle and remember the young diggers who lost their lives there. The presentation will outline the many challenges that arose in designing and installing a monument in the village of Gorari. Among the many project challenges were: - • Identifying the process for installing a monument in a foreign country • Stakeholder engagement – we needed to bring the people of the village of Gorari with us. We also needed to locate and inform relatives of diggers killed in the battle. • Communications – this was central to the success of the project but was one of the biggest challenges with Gorari having no direct communications with the outside world. The projects key stakeholder’s locations included Melbourne, Brisbane, Toowoomba, Mackay, Port Moresby and of course, Gorari. • Geotechnical – the site originally chosen for the monument, presented a number of engineering challenges • Sourcing of funding Of all the projects, I have delivered in my 50+ year career, this one has been the most rewarding – principally because of the support and enthusiastic participation of all those involved. It has also been the most emotional project I have ever undertaken with many a tearful telephone discussion being held with the relatives of young diggers who died on the Gorari battlefield.