1. Two soldiers born in Australia of parents of Greek descent dies on the Kokoda Track in 1942 in battles against the Japanese.
2. Private Guy Eric MANUSU (NX69109) died on 23 October 1942 at age 23 near the village of Eora Creek.
3. Private Alfred Perricles MANUSU (NX69110) died on 27 October 1942 at age 28 near the village of Eora Creek.
4. They are both buried at the Bomana War Cemetery only 13km from Port Moresby.
5. Guy was the 6th child born 1919 and Alfred was the 3rd child born 1914 of Betsy and Francis (Frank) MANUSU married in 1911. In total 5 boys and 2 girls.
6. The family lived in Bowraville inland from Nambucca Heads on the mid-north coast of NSW.
7. Frank served in South Africa during the second Anglo-Boer War, prior to joining the Police Force and finally becoming a farmer in Bowraville.
8. At the time Guy and Pericles died, their eldest brother and first-born Homer was also serving with them in Kokoda – this set up what I saw as the Australian-Greek version of “Saving Private Ryan” !!!
9. All three brothers fought side-by-side at Eora Creek in what became the largest battle of the Kokoda Campaign.
10. Guy and Pericles made it behind Japanese lines to force many back but lost their lives in the process just days apart. For this act the two brothers were posthumously awarded four medals: the “1939-1945 Star, the “Pacific Star”, the “1939-1945 War Medal” and the “1939-1945 Australian Service Medal”. Their mother Betsy did not get the chance to see this on Earth but Fran did.
11. Fortunately Homer survived the war and returned home to his mother who very sadly died of a broken heart in 1944.
12. Homer died in 1945 in Australia after being hit by milk truck on his bicycle in Bowraville.
13. Frank and the remaining siblings lived on until the youngest daughter passed away in 2010 at age 80.
14. In 2008, Cyril's grandson Tyler BELLAMY was one of eight people selected as part of the "Kokoda Youth Leadership Clubs Challenge" and paid the most fitting tribute that he could, by walking in his great-uncle's footsteps along the Kokoda Track.
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