Nine East Gippsland 16-17-year-olds have just completed the Kokoda Trail, walking in the footsteps of the East Gippslanders who served in World War II.
Taj Corben, Maggie Anderson, Gabby Bailey, Andrew Chapman, Angus Davis, Abi Gladstone, Meg Perry, Bess Smith-Entink and Lily Townsend had the experience of a lifetime having won Arthur Grassby Scholarships.
They were also joined in on the trip by Darren and Daniel Grassby, the grandson and great grandson of Arthur and visited the locations on the Kokoda plateau where Arthur, as a 16-year-old, was part of a 100-man company that faced a wave of 2000 Japanese. Also on the journey were six scholarship winners from Baw Baw and Wangaratta areas.
Following the eight day trek, which included a hair-raising dawn service at Isurava, the group visited Bomana War Cemetery and the graves of the soldiers from the local area who died on the trail.
Alone with “their” soldier, the scholarship winners knelt with one hand on the headstone and made a personal commitment to that man on what they would do with the rest of their lives, which was a very personal and powerful moment.
IMAGE: Grassby scholarship winners and committee members at the start of the Kokoda Trail at Owers Corner. (PS)
