Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

On a warm night at Alexandria Station a few hours before Christmas 1921 a baby boy was born, Harry Henry Gorringe to parents Bill (William) Gorringe and Alice. His father Bill was an Aboriginal Kidman Drover for the bulk of his working life and had ridden into the NT from Bedourie Qld. While in the NT he secured work with NAPCO at Alexandria Station. While working there in the stock camps he met and married an Alexandria born Aboriginal girl named Alice.

Life in the stock camps in that era was hard but those of us that came through the old bronco branding, pack horses and saddle mustering period know the fun that was had. Because Bill had come from the Kidman properties from Qld Channel country and being a drover that took cattle for Sid Kidman over vast areas of Australia, he had picked up skills and habits of the time.  Alexandria of the 1920’s was a property that relied on Aboriginal stockman and their families to muster brand and cut out bullocks for handing over to drovers to walk to market. 

After a period of life on Alexandria Station for NAPCO, Bill took his wife Alice and his saddle horses and the baby Harry with a pack horse and road back to Kidman employment in Qld. A trip that saw Bill walk on horseback 1000km to Bedourie from Alexandria along the Rankin River to the Georgina and further along. Bill was an above average horseman of his time and that era. He was selected in the country’s top 25 horseman for Kidmans and rode buckjumpers in a show in front of Sir Sidney for his birthday in Adelaide in 1932. Bill and another stockman walked a plant of Kidman saddle and buckjumper horses across barren land from Innamincka to Adelaide, 1100km, for the event. The Alexandria born Harry by this time being an 11year old boy.

On the 18 January 1943, Harry Gorringe put in his application to join the Australian Imperial Forces enlisting as an unemployed stockman so he would be accepted and not rejected as an essential service worker. He became a member of the AIF and his application shows his place of birth as Alexandria Station and his current employment trade as Station Employee. He was 22 years of age. After military training in Queensland, he was posted to the 2/25 Battalion AIF and by July 1943 had landed at Port Moresby New Guinea to take part in the push back of Japanese troops along the Kokoda Track and out of New Guinea. Harry experienced the climb at what was called ‘The Golden Staircase’ by the diggers. A sharp climb that rose 365 metres and had 2000 steps carved in the side of a hill. Harry and the other diggers would arrive at Imita Ridge helping with wounded before being flown to Kaiapit on the top of New Guinea. Harry would go on to fight in areas of Gona, Buna and Lae, New Guinea. He would witness firsthand the pain and suffering of war and pass the Fuzzy Wuzzy Angles, local Papuan stretcher bearers, and a long line of wounded men moving to field hospitals.  The fighting in these areas at the end of the Kokoda Track, Owen Stanley Range, was close hand to hand combat at times and at one jungle plantation one of the men in his battalion won the Victoria Cross while attacking the Japanese. Harry stayed with his unit and mates fighting until being evacuated from the field of battle to the rear being struck down sick with Malaria. By January 1944 Harry had disembarked in Cairns for Leave and to further rest from the rigors of battle and Malaria.

The rest of 1944 was spent doing more training for the beach landings expected to take place in Borneo, again fighting the Japanese Army. By June 1945 Harry embarked from Townsville and spent some time on Morotai an Indonesian Island where United States Infantry were in a hostile battle with Japanese forces. From here he sailed to Balikpapan Borneo and landed on the beach to battle Japanese forces. When Japan surrendered Harry was in the jungles of Borneo. The British were putting an Australian force together to land on Japan so Harry volunteered for the BCOF transferring from his mates in the 2/25 Battalion to join the 65th Battalion that was forming to go to Japan. In February 1946 Harry was at Kuni in Japan. His time in Japan was in the role of an occupying force and the malaria he caught in New Guinea still made him sick at times with him having several bouts of malaria and being rested in the 42nd United States Army Hospital set up on Japanese soil. By June 1947 he landed in Sydney and applied for discharge from the military to go back out bush, Windorah Queensland. His family not having seen him in several years.

NAPCO born Harry spent 1600 days in uniform for Australia, was on active service in North Queensland, New Guinea, Borneo, Japan. By the time the boy from Alexandria Station had finished his war he had qualified for 6 medals, The 1939-45 Star, Pacific Star, Australian Service Medal 1939-45, War Medal 1939-45, Australian Service Medal 1945-75 with Japan Clasp and BCOF Japan Medal 1946-52. Harry left the Army and returned to Queensland getting married and raising a family while still being involved with the cattle industry. His mother Alice from Alexandria Station today lays buried in Innamincka Cemetery his father in Windorah Cemetery. Harry Gorringe died in 1985 and is buried in Toowoomba in a military grave.