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War Memorial
Australia

Cairns veteran George Camp, 94, one of five brothers to return home safely after war.

VETERAN: 94 year old Leslie George Camp served in the 36th Battalion in New Guinea and New Britain during World War II. Picture: Brendan Radke.

LUCKY is an appropriate term to describe Leslie “George” Camp.
He braved heavy Japanese sniper fire in World War II to come home alive.
Four of his brothers who signed up all returned safely after the war.


And at 94, the Freshwater man has had a bloody good innings as well.

“My family was very lucky, there’s no doubt about that,” Mr Camp said.

“At that stage, the Japs were getting were very close in New Guinea and I thought ‘We’ve got to go and try and protect Australia’.

“I wanted to do my duty and get in there.”

And do his duty Mr Camp did, taking on the Japanese in Sanananda, New Guinea while watching his mates alongside him die in brutal battle in 1943.

“You could hear the bullets whiz through the jungle, but you’ve got to keep going,” he recalled.

“There were quite a few Japanese up in the treetops.

“They had a big, open space in front of the trees and they practically set up an ambush.

“We went in two or three times before, but this time we went in, they had all this area cleared and you were more or less a sitting duck.”

Serving with 36 Battalion in New Guinea, Mr Camp would go on to serve in the nearby island of New Britain before hostilities ended in 1945.

The Herberton boy returned home to the Far North, starting a family which nowadays boasts three children, six grandchildren, three great grandchildren and even one great-great grand child.

Every year on April 25, Mr Camp proudly marches on Anzac Day, donning his hard-earned medals from a conflict long ago.

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