Australia\u2019s last surviving Kokoda campaign veteran, Reginald James Chard OAM, has died aged 102.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe extend our deepest condolences to Reg\u2019s family, friends and all the lives he touched throughout his incredible life,\u201d the RSL said in a statement on Friday afternoon.<\/p>\n
\u201cRest easy, Reg. Your courage lives on in every step along that track.\u201d<\/p>\n
Enlisting in the Australian Army in 1942 when he was 18 years old, Mr Chard saw service in Papua New Guinea, where he survived repeated bouts of malaria.<\/p>\n
Prior to joining the military he was an apprentice baker in Sydney then underwent months of infantry training.<\/p>\n
He was then deployed to the Pacific island where he helped build an airstrip at Milne Bay, before joining the fighting along the Kokoda Track.<\/p>\n
Mr Chard recounted watching two of his closest friends from Sydney killed by Japanese snipers within moments of each other during the fighting.<\/p>\n
The Kokoda campaign was fought between Australia and Japanese forces in Papua between July and November 1942, during a pivotal stage of the Second World War.<\/p>\n
It is regarded as one of the war\u2019s defining battles for Australia, which saw about 625 Aussie soldiers killed, more than 1,600 wounded and thousands more struck down with disease.<\/p>\n
Mr Chard returned to Sydney in 1943, having lost almost 30kg over the course of the campaign.<\/p>\n
He was the last surviving member of the Kokoda campaign.<\/p>\n
In October 1945 he married his wife Betty, but was unable to return to his baking career due to the ongoing effects of tropical disease.<\/p>\n
He went on to spend 38 years driving trucks, having also worked in an iron foundry.<\/p>\n
Among those to pay tribute was education minister Jason Clare, who described the war hero as a \u201cdear friend\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cReg fought for our country, serving in the 55th\/53rd Battalion on the Kokoda Trail,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter losing the love of his life, Betty, Reg volunteered as a guide for school groups at the Kokoda Track Memorial Walkway in Concord, helping keep the legacy of his generation\u2019s service and sacrifice alive.<\/p>\n
\u201cRest in peace, my friend.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Australia\u2019s last surviving Kokoda campaign veteran, Reginald James Chard OAM, has died aged 102. \u201cWe extend our deepest…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":57894,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[60138,40816,60133,60190,59484,49335,60158,60156,60189,60141,60145,60167,60182,37726,60153,40351,60134,60135,60162,60160,60177,22,7776,23,21,60191,60169,28147,60147,39649,60154,60181,9715,1819,60183,60192,60142,60148,42230,60180,60161,60149,60132,60178,38590,60157,60159,60168,60150,37409,39122,60140,60155,53359,379,60172,60152,45017,60163,60179,354,6259,60170,60188,59481,60143,60194,1536,247,60193,60174,60166,60139,41633,39868,60185,60131,60187,60151,60144,60171,60184,60186,55903,60146,60176,60136,60175,51522,60165,41175,60173,17467,30310,60137,12379,60164],"class_list":["post-57893","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-s-defining","tag-s-family","tag-s-last-surviving-kokoda-campaign-veteran","tag-s-service","tag-59484","tag-18-years","tag-60158","tag-60156","tag-38-years","tag-600-wounded","tag-a-dear-friend","tag-a-guide","tag-a-pivotal-stage","tag-a-statement","tag-about-625-aussie-soldiers","tag-afternoon","tag-all-the-lives","tag-almost-30kg","tag-an-airstrip","tag-an-apprentice-baker","tag-an-iron-foundry-among","tag-au","tag-aus","tag-australia","tag-austrlia","tag-battles","tag-betty","tag-concord","tag-disease-mr-chard","tag-each-other","tag-education-minister-jason-clare","tag-every-step","tag-friday","tag-friends","tag-his-baking-career","tag-his-closest-friends","tag-his-generation","tag-his-incredible-life","tag-his-life","tag-his-wife-betty","tag-infantry-training-he","tag-its-final-living-link","tag-japanese-forces","tag-japanese-snipers","tag-july","tag-last-kokoda-veteran","tag-last-kokoda-veteran-reginald-james-chard","tag-malaria-prior","tag-milne-bay","tag-moments","tag-months","tag-more-than-1","tag-mr-chard","tag-my-friend","tag-newswire-news","tag-november-1942","tag-october-1945","tag-our-country","tag-our-deepest-condolences","tag-papua","tag-papua-new-guinea","tag-peace","tag-reg","tag-reginald-james-chard","tag-reginald-james-chard-oam","tag-repeated-bouts","tag-school-groups","tag-service","tag-sydney","tag-that-track","tag-the-55th-53rd-battalion","tag-the-australian-army","tag-the-campaign-he","tag-the-course","tag-the-death","tag-the-fighting","tag-the-fighting-the-kokoda-campaign","tag-the-kokoda-campaign","tag-the-kokoda-campaign-in","tag-the-kokoda-track-memorial-walkway","tag-the-kokoda-track-mr-chard","tag-the-kokoda-trail","tag-the-last-surviving-member","tag-the-legacy","tag-the-love","tag-the-military","tag-the-ongoing-effects","tag-the-pacific-island","tag-the-rsl","tag-the-second-world-war-it","tag-the-war","tag-the-war-hero","tag-thousands","tag-tribute","tag-tropical-disease-he","tag-trucks","tag-your-courage"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57893","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57893"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57893\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57894"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57893"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57893"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57893"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}