Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Alan was born on the 23rd of June 1917, the 3rd child (of 4) of Fredrich and Hedwig Mattner of ‘Trial Hill’ farm near Lyndoch in the Barossa Valley. Alan didn’t have the farming desire as did his two older brothers and left for Adelaide at 15 years to study cabinet making at the School of Mines. From the aged of 17 years he worked at Walkers Furniture Factory at Keswick, where he also learnt the skills of veneer-working.

At the age of 23 years, Alan joined the Militia on the 2nd Dec 1940 and trained at camps in Warradale and Chetenham in South Australia and Puckapunyal in Victoria.

On 18th April 1942 he married Mona Adeline Neldner, also of the Barossa Valley, and the next day travelled to Geelong to be trained as a driver mechanic enabling him to drive vans, lorries, trucks, scout cars and Army Fighting Vehicles

In April 1943 Private Mattner transferred to the 151 Australia General Transport Company, 6th Australian Armed Brigade, in Queensland. In July 1943 he embarked on the troop ship ‘Acadia’ in Brisbane bound for New Guinea and disembarked at Buna on the 21st July 1943.

The Japanese had landed at Gona-Buna exactly 1 year earlier and advanced to Kokoda and then over the Stanley-Owen Ranges towards Port Moresby. The Australian troops fought the Japanese fiercely in this area and by December 1942 Buna was recaptured by the Allies. It became a significant army air base to combat the Japanese who were still in Rabaul and Lae, the main admin towns of New Guinea.

During Private Mattner’s time in Buna, he kept a diary and described his first few days when they set up camp in a coconut grove. The area was riddled with the affects of the Battle of Buna and many Japanese pill-boxes. Under the challenging tropical malaria –infested conditions, hot & steamy in waist high grass, rife with insects and snakes, they had to clear the land to put up their tents. They dug wells 50 feet deep to find water to be boiled. He described the heavy bombing at Oro Bay.

While Private Mattner did not have to face the battle front, his work was in the supply of food and ammunitions to those on the front, in particular in the 21 Amphibians in his Unit. During that time his unit unloaded 10,000 tons of food from Liberty Ships with 111 trucks in 8 hour shifts, which later extended to 12 hours. The roads were very bad and dangerous, taking sometimes 3½ hours to travel 25kms

Private Mattner switched to being a vehicle repair worker, stationed at the Control Room at the wharf and said that out of 44 broken down vehicles in one week, he put 38 back on the road and 6 into the workshop. The main faults were petrol blocks, carburettors, fuel pumps, diaphragms, batteries, condenser earthing, lights, seized brakes, broken steering shaft, broken springs, generators, cooling systems, etc.

By September 1943, the Buna Airport was very busy with Liberators (4-engine planes loaded with bombs) which was an obvious target for the Japanese. Some of Private Mattner’s mates were killed in bombing raids.

On the 29th September 1943, Private Mattner’s unit was moved to Lae by sea, taking 105 3-ton trucks, 8 jeeps & 18 Amphibians with 450 personnel on landing ships. It was a nervous time for the troops as they were attacked by the Japanese three times. This was the ’Landing of Lae’ of a hundred Allied vessels, the largest combined land, sea & air operation undertaken by the Australian armed forces to that date. They landed at Lae the next day and found buildings ’blown to bits’, dead bodies, bomb craters, wrecked ships and there was no jetty or wharf. The tropical rains were upon them and they had to set up camp in the jungle, 5kms from the shore.

There was a major air battle over Lae on 10th-11th October 1943, while Private Mattner was in the camp hospital with a high fever. The unit dug vertical slit trenches after that, for their own protection.

Later that month Private Mattner helped to off load the 1st Victory Ship (US cargo) with 150 vehicles and 3,000 tons of stores, 24 hours of intense labour.
In January 1944, sadly, a best mate, also from Tanunda, died after contracting scrub typhus and malaria together. Now, the Japanese had left and there was a massive clean-up. Private Mattner grew so busy that he didn’t write much more in his diary except to say that he was still unloading Libertys and they were carting bombs to Nadzab, the largest air-base in the South Pacific.

He returned to Australia at the end of August 1944 and by October could at last enjoy a honeymoon with Mona on Kangaroo Island during his leave. It had been a long 18 months since they had seen each other. Mona helped the Aussie Troops by working in the Munition Factory at Salisbury for three years.

In November1944 Private Mattner was back with 151 Australian General Transport Company at sea on the ship ‘Taroona’ bound for Lae again. This time he took a Kodak box camera and recorded his experience by photo rather than script. The photos show that he drove over swing bridges to Wau, through many villages—Salamua, Labu, Yalu, Mahahang, Cupricica…. , washing the trucks in Busu River and his tent home for 18mths, with a raised floor on slilts. He had described it as ‘quite comfortable’.

In February 1945 Private Mattner transferred to 74 Aust Transport Platoon and stayed in New Guinea until the 5th August 1945, when he embarked on the ship ‘SS Katoomba’ bound for Townsville. He was finally discharged in Adelaide on the 31st October 1945.

Private Mattner served a total of 1415 days which included, 624 days active service in Australia and 673 days active service in New Guinea. Private Mattner always held a special relationship with PNG in his heart, for he had experienced the kindness and support of the local people and also saw the destruction of the war. Private Mattner was awarded the following medals

1939/45 Star
Pacific Star
War Medal 1939/45
Australian Service Medal

After the war, Alan lived with Mona at Carrington St, Adelaide, in a duplex, renting the second unit. They had 2 children, Kathryn Jane (October 1949) and Sandra Lynne (October 1951) before moving in 1953 to Boucaut St, Plympton Park, a new residential area. Alan worked in furniture factories, Walkers and Smalls, before retiring in Dec 1977.

Alan passed away at the age of 62yrs in July 1979 and was buried in Centennial Park in the Lutheran Section. Mona moved to Penola to be closer to her daughters in 1988 and when Mona passed in 2020 she wanted to be buried at Kalangadoo, near her daughter, Kathryn and son-in-law, Forrest. Alan’s remains were then exhumed and brought to rest at Kalangadoo Cemetery to be forever with his beloved Mona.

A Brave Soldier at Rest
Lest We Forget