Media Release
20 July 2010
For immediate release
Australian Defence Force carries fallen Fuzzy Wuzzy Angel on his final journey
A Royal Australian Air Force C130 yesterday repatriated the body of Fuzzy Wuzzy Angel, Mr Chahibus Julali, accompanied by his family, from Port Moresby to Wewak.
Mr Julali had recently been recognised by the Australian Government for his courageous work carrying water and ammunition for Australian soldiers based at Kehanubu Airstrip in Yangoru, East Sepik Province, during the Second World War.
He had been presented with a Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels Commemorative Medallion by Australia’s Parliamentary Secretary for International Development Assistance, The Hon Bob McMullan MP, at a ceremony in Port Moresby on 9 July.
Mr Julali was preparing to return to Wewak from Port Moresby following the medallion ceremony when he passed away unexpectedly in the company of his family on 10 July.
In light of the extensive service Mr Julali had provided to Australian servicemen and women during the Papua New Guinea campaign, and following close consultation with Mr Julali’s family, the Australian Defence Force (ADF) undertook to facilitate Mr Julali’s return to his final resting place.
The ADF currently has air assets in place in Papua New Guinea for joint exercises with the Papua New Guinea Defence Force. Reflecting the spirit of close cooperation in which those exercises are held, Australian servicemen and women have been pleased to utilise those assets to assist in Mr Julali’s repatriation as a gesture of respect for a Papua New Guinean who had rendered assistance to their predecessors during the Second World War.
Australia’s High Commissioner to Papua New Guinea, HE Mr Ian Kemish AM, said: “Chahibus Julali provided valuable assistance to Australian diggers during the Second World War.We are deeply saddened by his passing, but pleased that, in a mark of the esteem in which his contribution is held by the Australian Government, the Australian Defence Force has been able to facilitate his final journey home.”
Mr Julali will be buried in his home village of Yobomunah in West Yangoru, East Sepik Province.