WAU: Bad roads, great people, awesome WWII Commemorations
Bad roads, great people, awesome WWII Commemorations
Recently I travelled up to Wau for the World War II 75th Anniversary to commemorate the Battle of Wau, a significant battle in the history of WWII in Morobe and Papua New Guinea. In brief the Battle of Wau, 29–31 January 1943, was a battle in the New Guinea campaign of World War II. Forces of the Empire of Japan sailed from Rabaul and crossed the Solomon Sea and, despite Allied air attacks, successfully reached Lae, where they disembarked. Japanese troops then advanced overland on Wau, an Australian base that potentially threatened the Japanese positions at Salamaua and Lae. (Wikipedia)
Road to Wau
The last time I travelled up the Wau-Bulolo highway was a decade ago and I remember the road quite well up to only Bulolo. Wau was always a place I wanted to take a drive up to, but my younger brother and his inlaws always tell me the road is really bad. Glenn my younger brother and partner Glenda travel up and to Wau on a monthly basis having his inlaws up there.
So on a fine beautiful morning in Lae, I set out to conquer the "bad roads" of the Wau-Bulolo highway. With me in the car was United Church Reverend James Karava who was to take the dawn commemoration service and winner of Vocal Fusion 2017, Francisca Tulungenaram and her mother. Franki was tasked to sing both the Australia and PNG National Anthems and she was awesome. (another story). Leaving the cement roads of Lae City and the newly built speedway, we took a left turn at 9 Mile onto the Wau-Bulolo Highway. A quick radio call to Guard Dog Security to let them know we were on our way and boom the first sight of dust way infront.
A few one lane bridges before the Markham bridge set the precedence of what was to come. Once on the longest bridge in PNG the Markham bridge spanning 515meters, we were surely on our way leaving the lights and noise of a busy city. Right at the end of the bridge, there was about 100 meters or so of gravel road right in front of the bridgeside market which commuters stopover before the long trip up or a welcome meal before entering Lae City.
From there on the road had its bad parts, I think one of the worst was just after the Markham bridge along the Markham River. Part of the road was washed away by the might of the river, with recent heavy rains in the province not helping. From there on, patches of road where thick dust was merely driveable in. It was so bad, you have to let the car infront of you leave you behind for about 50 meters before you can trail them because thats the only way visibility is restored.
The sleepy cold town of Wau in the distance
The road all the way up to Bulolo was in dire need of fixing and upgrading. Roads this bad bring alot of bad with it and one of that is diseases. The thickness of the dust on the roads near villages and road side markets on a dry sunny day would be enough to suffocate someone. Then we have road accidents and other issues like lack of services reaching these places simply because logistically it cost more to just travel such bad roads to deliver simple services. Livelyhoods are at stake along the highway up to Bulolo and the roads really need to be fixed or maintained to the least.
From Bulolo, we took the "loggers road" to get to Wau. The actually road to Wau was covered in landslides after landslides with no effort to clear it up until the road was unusable anymore. So I was told that the one hour drive to Wau has now turned to 2-3 hours and on a PMV more then that. No wonder my brother Glenn and Glenda leave Lae at 2pm and arrive at about 10pm at night on a PMV. That's 8 hours on a PMV! The logging road was okay to say the least, but you would still need a Four-Wheel-Drive to travel on it and the very acute sharp bends was a very dangerous hazard in itself.
People of Bulolo and Wau
I am a people person and the smiles on the people from Markham bridge to Wau was simply warming given it was so bloody cold in Wau. When you travel up to Wau you must bring some winter clothes or a jacket and long pants. Wau is about 1100 meters above sea level which puts it between Kainantu and Goroka in Eastern Highlands Province. The temperature there lingers around the 20-25 degrees celcius, now that is cold for a person straight in from a normal 35 degree Lae sunny day.
The very family people had nothing to give but their warm smiles and waves and cheering us on the way. One would think they knew us for a long time, but its just the way these people roll. The kids don't mind the bad roads infact they don't even get what politics is and how it is affecting their roads and other services. For me I think they wake up today and enjoy the day like its a normal day full of fun and laughter. Everyone said hi because everyone knew we were new to the place. Maybe we didn't dress the Bulolo or Wau way of dressing or maybe we went with expatriates. I didn't care, they said hi and i replied with a hi. I would definately go back there again not because I want to travel the bad roads but to write about the people in these townships.
The children, men and women braved the cold morning to attend the Battle of Wau Commemorations
WWII Battle of Wau Commemorations
The 75th
Anniversary of a defining event in World War II, the Battle of Wau, was commemorated
in a dawn service on 30 January in Morobe Province.
Around 500 people,
mostly Papua New Guinean families, took part in a service arranged by the
Australian Consulate-General in Lae with Wau-based business and community
leaders, led by NKW Fresh. The Member
for Menyamya, Hon. Thomas Pelika, Australian Defence Force, Papua New Guinea
Defence Force, Australian Federal Police all participated in the service.
The Battle of Wau itself was a fierce campaign
which saw Australian soldiers, known as the “Kanga Force”, fight back a
Japanese attack which reached the Wau airstrip itself. In associated fighting, 349 Australians
perished. Estimates put the number of associated
Japanese causalities at up to 1,200.
The dawn service
was a time of remembrance and reflection.
After the Pacific War began, Wau had become an evacuation centre for
refugees from Lae and Salamaua. Australian
women and children were evacuated via the “Bulldog Track” while Australian men
of military age were called-up for duty.
The people gathered there were reminded that for them standing
here today, as free citizens of our own independent countries, the sacrifices
of those at the Battle of Wau form the bedrock for the freedoms we hold dear.
The delegates from the PNGDF, ADF, AFP, PNGRPC, Hon. Thomas Pelika MP and others
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