🚨 84 YEARS LATER — THE REM-AINS OF THE LAST MISSING KOK0DA DIGGER, LIEU-TENANT HERC-ULES CRAWF0RD, HAVE FINALLY BEEN IDENTIFIED… AND THE LONG-AWAITED DISCOVERY IS LEAVING MANY STUNNED
‘Keeping his memory alive … meant the world.’
More than eight decades on, the remains of a digger killed on the Kokoda Track during World War II have finally been identified.
Lieutenant Hercules Crawford is the last of the famous 39th Battalion, declared missing in action, to be found.
For the family of Crawford, the identification of his remains after so long finally gives them peace.
“Keeping his memory alive with my grandfather meant the world,” his granddaughter Natasha Read said through tears.
The first diggers on the Kokoda Track, the 39th Battalion, faced a Japanese ambush 84 years ago today.
The 34-year-old Lieutenant Crawford staggered off wounded.
“That was the last time he was seen effectively by anyone,” Kokoda historian Carl Johnson said.
For years, his family and historians researched his fate, then lobbied the government.
Now the Army has formally confirmed he’s in an unnamed grave in PNG’s Bomana Cemetery.
“Hercules Crawford is the last member of the lead battalion to head up the Kokoda Track, the first to face the Japanese to be still seen as missing in action,” Johnson said.
“We’re extremely proud of him, for the legacy that he’s left,” Read said.
A new gravestone with his name will be unveiled soon.
“It’ll be wonderful for Herc’s children and grandchildren to know that he’s finally put to rest,” his daughter-in-law Jill Crawford said.
Veterans’ Affairs Minister Matt Keogh said: “instead of being a soldier unknown, they will have their names and details added, which is really significant because it is about recognising the sacrifice they made for our nation.”
“Given the sacrifices that my grandfather made, the least thing that I can do is make sure that his memory’s never forgotten,” Read said.
SOURCE: https://7news.com.au/news/remains-of-last-missing-kokoda-digger-lieutenant-hercules-crawford-identified-after-84-years-c-22695986