Fuzzy Wuzzy surprise

WOONONA-BULLI RSL re-cieved an emotional surprise visit from some genuine Fuzzy-Wuzzy Angels on Tuesday.

The timely meeting was enough to bring some RSL members to tears, as they remembered old mates lost in war.

"If you've ever, ever served in the army in war, you know what war means & the mates that are left behind," Woonona-RSL Sub-Branch President Neil McLean said.

"And these Fuzzy-Wuzzy Angels are still suffering the same way that we are."

Fuzzy-Wuzzy Angels is the affectionate nickname given by Australian soldiers to the Papua New Guinean civilians who helped stop the Japanese from taking control of their country in World War II.

The Fuzzy-Wuzzy Angels, named for their "fuzzy" hair, carried supplies and wounded Australian soldiers through the rugged terrain of their homeland during the war and were invaluable to the tired and besieged Australians there.

Two of the four Papua New Guineans present at the lunch on Tuesday, Frederick Soka and Joseph Kisa, were actual Fuzzy-Wuzzy Angels in World War II.

Woonona's Harry Bottom, an Australian Kokoda Veteran had wanted to attend the lunch but was prevented by ill health.

Benjamin Ijumi, Chief of Kokoda, was one of the other Fuzzy-Wuzzy Angels representatives present at the lunch. He commended Australian troops who, like Mr Bottom, served in Kokoda.

"Our coming here is a reminder of those who died to save both Australia and Papua New Guinea," he said.

Woonona-RSL Sub-Branch President Neil McLean received a phone call about 9pm on Monday telling him the Angels would be in Wollongong to speak to primary schoolchildren on Tuesday and did not hesitate to make them the honoured guests at a special lunch at his club the next day.

The Angels visited Holy Spirit College in Bellambi on Tuesday morning. Students from the school met Chief Ijumi on an aeroplane coming back to Australia from Papua New Guinea, after their group walked the Kokoda Track over Easter. Chief Ijumi overheard them talking and offered to visit the school before Anzac Day.

The Papua New Guineans honoured guests at the lunch by wearing traditional head-dresses and performing a traditional song and dance about bringing back the spirits of their forebears, a poignant sentiment so close to Anzac Day.

One RSL veteran was overheard telling one Fuzzy-Wuzzy Angel that the performance was "bloody brilliant", and all of those present seemed genuinely moved by the song.

It is believed that no Fuzzy-Wuzzy Angel ever abandoned an Australian casualty throughout the war.