Daru Honors War Heroes with Dawn Service Tribute

By Kenny Romanus

As the rest of Papua New Guinea paid tribute to its armed forces for their roles in World War II, the Daru town in Western Province also held its own dawn service to mark the occasion.

On the morning of Wednesday, July 23, 2025, residents including children, parents, and community members gathered at the Remembrance Park to participate in the solemn ceremony.

Members of PNG Defence Force and Police based in Daru laid wreaths and offered tributes in honor of those who served.

Addressing the gathering, Mr. Mai Jubi, President of the Returned Services League (RSL), commended the disciplinary forces on the island for showing great respect and upholding the legacy of national sacrifice.

Mr. Jubi urged the people of Daru to remember the historical significance of this day and the bravery of soldiers that played a key role in defending the country during the war, a defining moment in PNG’s early political and military history.

“Many of them were untrained,” he said. “Some served in the navy, others in ground battalions. They earned the name ‘Green Shadows’ because the natural colors of our environment helped conceal them from the Japanese.”

He emphasized that the sacrifices made during that time were the foundation upon which the nation’s independence was built.

“We should take pride in honoring their sacrifices, it is through their efforts that we gained our freedom,” he said.

Mr. Jubi also reflected on the moment when Australian flags were raised along the Kokoda Track, causing confusion among Japanese forces and signaling that Australia was already engaged in defending Papua New Guinea.

He concluded by reminding those in attendance that the Cross of Sacrifice (Monument) at the Remembrance Park stands as a powerful symbol of the actions taken 83 years ago, in 1942, to defend the nation.

Meantime, a significant number of the earliest soldiers in Papua New Guinea’s military, the Pacific Infantry Battalion during World War II, were recruited from the Western Province, including Daru. They fought alongside Australian forces in jungle combat and played a key role in establishing what is now the PNG Defence Force.