WW2 Diggers killed in PNG identified

From the ABC website, the remains of two Australian soldiers killed in Papua New Guinea in WW2 have been identified - Lieutenant Talbot Tim Logan and Lance Sergeant James Garrard Wheeler:

Diggers killed in PNG identified - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Logan was born in Kyambu, Kenya. Wheeler was a bank clerk from Narrabri, NSW.

Logan's service record is not yet scanned.

I believe this is Wheeler's service record:

http://naa12.naa.gov.au/scripts/imagine.asp?B=4891812&I=1&SE=1

Killed in action 1 Dec 1942 N.G.
A reference to where he was buried is noted in his service record.

R.I.P. boys.


Martin

 

Martin,
Thanks for that information.

It must mean a great deal to the deceased families, even after all these years.

R.I.P.

Regards
Tom

 

Thanks Martin,

It must help to bring closure for the relatives.

 

Just finished reading a little about PNG, and watched the film Kokoda 29th Battalion. Bloody awful war, I think.

I'm glad they are identified, RIP.

 

I thought it curious that, for Lance Sergeant Wheeler at least, his grave seemed to be fairly well referenced in his service record (I think there was some sort of coordinate given and also reference to nearby roads) and yet here they are identifying him. I suppose they just lost track of the grave and any headstone or identifying marker placed in '42 had long since disappeared. Anyway, yes, nice to think that surviving relatives would get some closure after all these years.

Martin

 

Will do, Owen.

Here are their CWGC details:

CWGC :: Casualty Details
LOGAN, TALBOT TIM, Lieutenant, Australian Infantry, A.I.F. 2/12 Bn.
Died 01/01/1943, age 30.
Son of Edward Percival and Muriel Margueritta Logan; husband of Lorne Daisy Mabel Logan, of North Rockhampton, Queensland.

CWGC :: Casualty Details
WHEELER, JAMES GARRARD, Lance Sergeant, Royal Australian Artillery, A.I.F. 21/1 Fd. Regt.
Died 01/12/1942, age 23.
Son of Harold Charles Fearon Wheeler and Thelma Edith Wheeler, of Narrabri, New South Wales.

 

Thanks for the info Martin. I had not heard any news on this.

 

The remains of the two Australian diggers mentioned above, as well as two unidentified diggers, have been laid to rest in PNG.

WWII diggers laid to rest in PNG - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Photos:

Lance-Sergeant Jim Wheeler, one of the diggers lost in Papua New Guinea during WWII.
http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/200912/r479392_2432748.jpg

Sombre affair: Helen Kirton places flowers on the coffin of her brother Lance Sergeant James Wheeler
http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/200912/r479401_2432954.jpg

The diggers have been reburied alongside their fallen comrades at the Bomana War Cemetery.
http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/200912/r479387_2432710.jpg


Rest in peace.