The Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels Many a mother in Australia, When the busy day is done, Sends a prayer to the Almighty For the keeping of her son, Asking that an Angel guide him And bring him safely back Now we see those prayers are answered On the Owen Stanley track, For they haven’t any halos, Only holes slashed in the ears, And with faces worked by tattoos, With scratch pins in their hair, Bringing back the wounded, Just as steady as a hearse, Using leaves to keep the rain off And as gentle as a nurse. Slow and careful in bad places, On the awful mountain track, And the look upon their faces, Makes us think that Christ was black. Not a move to hurt the carried, As they treat him like a Saint, It’s a picture worth recording, That an Artist’s yet to paint. Many a lad will see his Mother, And the Husbands, Weans and Wives, Just because the Fuzzy Wuzzy Carried them to save their lives. From mortar or machine gun fire, Or a chance surprise attack, To safety and the care of Doctors, At the bottom of the track. May the Mothers in Australia, When they offer up a prayer, Mention those impromptu Angels, With the Fuzzy Wuzzy hair. Sapper H "Bert" Beros NX 6925, 7th Div., RAE, AIF Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels Kokoda Historical- Kokoda Track/Trail Tours The Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels were a tribe of Papua New Guinean native peoplenicknamed by the Australians because of their wild, woolly hair. Fuzzy Wuzzy Angel "... like the care of a nurse and the love of a mother." (Lt Col. Ralph Honner CO 39th Bn) FuzzyWuzzy Angel is term given to the caring native carriers of Papua NewGuinea . Six Hundred Australian lives were lost during the campaign butwithout the help of the native carriers the loss would have been muchgreater. Not only did they carry the wounded out but they also carriedthe ammunition, food and other supplies in. With the average loadweighing over 40 kg's and often under heavy fire from the Japanese, theFuzzy Wuzzy battled the terrain and the enemy as they painstakinglycarried the wounded over the dreadful terrain. Witha party of eight, they constructed a stretcher out of branches andblankets, working four at a time. There is no known case of any woundedAustralian solider being abandoned by the Fuzzy Wuzzy's. Theythemselves were greatly affected by the war. Many villages weredestroyed, food crops and pigs were raided and they could no longeroccupy their huts, having to relocate their village further out in tothe wilderness. Natives traversing the harsh terrain with a load of much needed supplies. Theincredible human chain which they formed across the Owen Stanley, gavethe Australian's the advantage over the Japanese. Organized by BertKeinzle and Dr Geoffrey Vernon, important bush skills and localknowledge were employed by the New Guinea Natives.
I love the minor info about the war . LOL. On a similar vein http://www.ww2f.com/wwii-today/23509-cargo-cults.html
Well 'fuzzy wuzzy angles' played a big part in the success of the Australian forces in Papua, so they hold a place in Australian History.
