AS A 21-year-old, Geoff Chapman was one of the first to land on the shores of Tarakan island, near Borneo, in 1945.
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Next week the former 2/48th Infantry Battalion private, now aged 91, will join seven other veterans from around Australia to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the World War II campaign of the Operation Oboe landings on Borneo.
The eldest is 96, the youngest 89, and all were selected for their war service on Borneo and their level of fitness to make the trip.
Veterans’ Affairs Minister Michael Ronaldson said he looked forward to joining the veterans in Borneo and reflecting on all those that served and died in Pacific campaigns.
Mr Chapman’s application was supported by Launceston Legacy Club, which gave a cocktail party to farewell him on Friday.
It will be the first time Mr Chapman, of Norwood, has returned to the island since a Japanese sniper shot his ankle and he was transferred to a hospital ship just months from the end of the war.
While looking forward to the return to Borneo, he expects there will be moments of real sadness.
Mr Chapman said he had too many memories of those weeks he was there, preferring to remember and recount the fun times with mates.
He described the hospital ship after being shot as ‘‘heaven’’.
‘‘There were clean sheets, a bed, I was put on the hospital ship at four in the afternoon and an orderly came up to me and said, ‘Would you like a cup of tea?’ and I said, I would love one please.’’
‘‘He said, ‘Do you take milk and sugar?’, no I just like it plain, ‘How strong do you like it?’, and I was just thinking – this is amazing, and he says, ‘Would you like a biscuit with it?’ – It was great service.
‘‘It was quite a culture shock [from what I’d been used to].’’
The war ended while Mr Chapman was in rehabilitation at Morotai but he returned to Tarakan before being shipped back to Australia.
As part of the visit Mr Chapman is keen to see how the people of Borneo, particularly those from Tarakan, feel about Australians today.
Mr Chapman will leave Launceston on Tuesday for the nine-day trip and join the other veterans in Brisbane before travelling first to Singapore and then across to Borneo, taking in many places including Balikpapan, Tarakan and Bandar Seri Begawan.
