2/14 Memorial Yandina
Trevor Pryor2/14 Battalion Memorial, Yandina.
To coincide with the 75th anniversary of the Kokoda Track Campaign and thanks to the wonderful effort of Helen Cook of the Yandina/Eumundi RSL, this memorial was refurbished and then rededicated on August 6th, 2017. The rededication service was made more significant as it took place within an hour of the time, 75 years previous, when the battalion departed for PNG.
The memorial is a tribute to the men of the 2/14 Battalion, one of the most decorated of WW2. It is also a reminder of the importance of the time spent in the local district prior to departure to New Guinea.
After returning from the Middle East, the 2/14 spent 11 weeks camped under Mt Ninderry and training through the Blackall ranges prior to deployment to PNG. No doubt the time spent in physical and tactical training was of great importance to survival against the Japanese. One of the soldiers who spent time at Yandina was Pte Bruce Kingsbury who was awarded a posthumous VC for his actions at Isurava.
A feature of their stay was the acceptance by the residents of the Yandina/Nambour district and the involvement of the troops in a variety of social activities which meant so much to their well-being. For so many, these would be the last “families” they knew.
Many injured and sick were later repatriated from PNG to Brisbane and were overwhelmed by the number of local people who made the trip to see them or arrange relatives to visit. One of the veterans, Dudley Warhurst, returned to marry a local school teacher and he suggested that he was one of more than 20 to marry local girls.
In recent years the 2/14 Association has established a close link with the Yandina State School which now includes the memorial and associated history in its curriculum. The school captains of 2017 were the guest speakers at the rededication service.
They closed their talk with the words, "We will remember them. We MUST remember them."
