16 January 2014

Australian Minister for Defence and Acting Minister for Veterans’ Affairs, Senator the Hon David Johnston, offers condolences on the death of World War II veteran Sergeant Ben Moide CBE

The Australian Minister for Defence and Acting Minister for Veterans’ Affairs, Senator the Hon David Johnston, has written to the Moide family to offer his condolences and those of the Government and the people of Australia on the death of Sergeant Steven Benjamin Moide, CBE.

Senator Johnston wrote: “I have met Australian veterans of the Kokoda campaign, I have listened to their stories and know of the respect they held for the men of the Papuan Infantry Battalion who scouted the way and fought alongside them. They faced the enemy and endured the same hardships of hunger, sickness, exposure and exhaustion. Australia will forever remember the contribution of the Papuan Infantry Battalion to the freedom our two countries enjoy today.

“Sergeant Moide was the last surviving veteran of the first contact with the advancing Japanese near Kokoda on 23 July 1942, now commemorated as Remembrance Day in Papua New Guinea. He was later deservedly recognised as a symbol of the service and sacrifice of the Papuan Infantry Battalion. He carried this role with great dignity, earning the admiration of the many Australians he met. Australians saw in Sergeant Moide a fine man, a brave soldier, and an outstanding servant of Papua New Guinea.

“Sergeant Moide was much admired and respected by all those Australians who know of the shared history of our two nations and, especially, of our shared experience of the Kokoda Campaign. Sergeant Ben Moide and all those who served with him will always hold a special place in Australia’s memory.”

Australia will be represented at the State Funeral for Sergeant Moide by High Commissioner Deborah Stokes and the Head of Australian Defence Staff in Papua New Guinea, Colonel Dick Parker.