The first commemorative medallion honouring Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels’ care for Australian soldiers during the Second World War will be presented by the Minister for Veterans’ Affairs, Alan Griffin, at 3pm today. Speaking on Papua New Guinea’s Remembrance Day, the Minister said he was honoured to be in Papua New Guinea (PNG) to present the first medallion at a special service in Bomana War Cemetery near Port Moresby.

“Australians have long revered the Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels for their role in carrying supplies to troops fighting in nearly inaccessible terrain and for their care in evacuating the wounded,” Mr Griffin said. “Many Australians who became sick or wounded during the New Guinea campaign owe their lives to these civilians, who are affectionately known as Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels. They earned great respect for their strength, ingenuity and compassion. Their contribution is the basis of much of the goodwill and warm relations between the two countries.”

The Medallion was announced by Prime Minister Rudd and Prime Minister Somare on 28 April 2009. The Medallion features the image of a blinded and barefoot Private George Whittington being helped along by Raphael Oimbari, which came from a photograph taken on Christmas Day 1942 near Buna on the PNG north coast. An estimated 50,000 Papuan and New Guinean citizens assisted during the Second World War by carrying supplies, building bases, airfields and other wartime infrastructure, and evacuating the sick and the wounded from the fighting.

The medallions are available to surviving Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels and the widows or widowers of Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels. The Australian Government is seeking to ensure all surviving Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels are honoured. More information on nominations is available from the Department of Veterans’ Affairs or the Australian High Commission in PNG. While in PNG, Minister Griffin is also attending events commemorating Remembrance Day.

“The men whose lives depended on the work of the Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels rightly held them in high esteem. It is a mark of the enduring nature of that esteem that we continue to honour those efforts which began 65 years ago,” Mr Griffin said.