PATRICK Curtis is on an important mission this week - one that has been 70 years in the making.
The Greenbank RSL sub-branch member has joined seven other World War II veterans in Borneo, as part of a special commemorative trip marking some of Australia’s most complex wartime operations.
A former member of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), Mr Curtis said the trip was about paying homage to the Australians who gave their lives on the shores of the island.
The visit coincides with the 70th anniversary of the Oboe Landings on Borneo, an attempt by Australian troops to liberate the island’s people from Japanese occupation in 1945.
Mr Curtis joined the navy at age 17, making three landings at Borneo himself.
“Tarakan was pretty upsetting affair because we were offshore in the daylight and when the troops were proceeding along the beachfront enemy aircraft came along behind them and killed quite a few of them,” he said.
“We were quite close to the beach at that time.
“Also, it was to my knowledge, the first time a (Victoria Cross) VC winner was killed in action, at the same landing.
“He must have been very determined because he got quite ahead of the other Australian troops and they didn’t find his remains until two days later.”
Mr Curtis worked as a telegraphist for the RAN, relaying instructions received from home.
“We used to receive coded messages, they had a radio station in Canberra that used to send out messages 24 hours a day,” he said.
“We used to receive those messages but didn’t send any because with direction finding equipment you could find out where the transmitter was coming from.
“It was the way that we used to get our communications telling us where to go and what plans we had, what places to go to.”
Mr Curtis said he was honoured to be a part of the commemorative mission to Borneo, accompanied by veterans from the army, navy and air forces.
The group will participate in several commemorative activities, including ceremonies at the Kranji Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery in Singapore, the Balikpapan Memorial and the Brunei-Australia Memorial.
“Some of the sites we are going to are going to be rather upsetting I should imagine,” Mr Curtis said.
“At Brunei I think they are going to go to the area where a lot of Australian prisoners died, 400 of them in the one effort. It will be good to pay our respects.”
The group, which will be joined by Veterans Affairs Minister Michael Ronaldson at Brunei, left from Brisbane Airport last Thursday and will return home this Friday.
