General News
8 April, 2025
KOKODA BOUND
By CHRIS EARL FOUR Loddon students will walk in the footsteps of Australia’s World War Two diggers. Wedderburn College students Indi Simpson, Chantelle Badenhorst, Dakota Martin and Tyson Blair, who is Loddon Shire’s current young citizen of the...
By CHRIS EARL
FOUR Loddon students will walk in the footsteps of Australia’s World War Two diggers.
Wedderburn College students Indi Simpson, Chantelle Badenhorst, Dakota Martin and Tyson Blair, who is Loddon Shire’s current young citizen of the year, were last week named inaugural recipients of the new RSL scholarships.
The quartet in July will spend eight days on the 96km Kokoda Track in Papua New Guinea’s Owen Stanley Ranges where 625 soldiers were killed.
Wedderburn-Korong Vale RSL sub-branch had wanted to award two scholarships each year. But president Roger Paterson said strong support from community organisations “and some very generous anonymous donors has meant four students will be able to experience walking Kokoda this year”.
“All four applications for the scholarships - they honour Albert ‘Knocker’ Hayes, an Inglewood soldier who was on the Kokoda Track and Norman “Digger” Letts, a well-known Wedderburn resident who was held as a prisoner of war - were fantastic. And luckily, there were spots available in this year’s walk for all four to go,” Mr Paterson said.
“Without this support - the college has been terrific from the start - and organisations like Lions, this opportunity for local students that we have been working towards for more than 18 months would not be happening.”
College principal Danny Forrest said: “The students will have the greatest experience and gain a deeper understanding of the sacrifice that soldiers made for our country.
“Students will be able to explore how difficult it was (at Kokoda) for those soldiers. They will have an experience to bring back and share with our school and in our local communities,” he said.
Among the Australian deaths at Kokoda in 1942 was Corporal Donald Howlett, aged 17, the age Tyson Blair will be when he goes to Papua New Guinea in July. “We will go to honour the spirit of the Australian soldiers and I hope we come back with a courage and determination to live that honours them,” Tyson said.
“We have been told that Kokoda is one of the hardest tracks to walk in the world. Being fit will be the challenge.”
Chantelle said the walk would help the quartet “pay our respects and have us outside our comfort zone, testing our mental fitness.
“They (the soldiers) fought and died for our country ... a country that would be peaceful and a free country,” she said as recipients chatted on Wedderburn’s Soldiers’ Memorial Park on Monday.
Indi said: “I am looking to the experience and gaining know-ledge - being aware of what the soldiers did and the conditions they faced.”
She said the Kokoda experience would expand her interest in war history that had already explored the Vietnam War.
For Dakota, who will be making her first trip out of Australia, being selected as a scholarship recipient would foster a “deeper knowledge and connection”.
“Being on the track will help us connect. We won’t have guns like the soldiers did in 1942 but we will know more about the conditions they faced,” Dakota said.
Mr Paterson said the first four scholarship recipients would become local trailblazers in sharing the important and significance of Kokoda in Loddon schools and communities.
He said the cost of this life-altering experience was $7000 a student, covering airfare to Papua New Guinea, accommodation, professional guides, equipment, and safety provisions.
Mr Paterson said the initiative was more than a history lesson.
“It’s about building character, fostering leadership, and providing young people with an experience that will shape their lives for the better. By walking in the footsteps of heroes, these students will learn about our past while forging their own futures,” Mr Paterson said.
“This journey will also enhance the students’ understanding of service, sacrifice, and the importance of community. Beyond the track, students will return as young ambassadors, sharing their insights with the community through presentations and engagement programs.
“The school got on board with us early and the community has been terrific in its support.”