Lt. Col. Ralph Honner

Ralph was born in Fremantle on August 17 1904 and died in 1994. A school teacher, linguist, barrister, soldier, sportsman, writer and orator, he was a Renaissance man who believed passionately in chivalry and lived his life according to his ideals.  He was one of our finest tactical military leaders.  Ralph anticipated WWII and was one of the first to enlist in WA as his service number, WX15, suggests.  He was then 35 years old, married with a young family.   

He distinguished himself as a company commander in the Middle East, at Bardia, Tobruk and Derna. He did it again in the disastrous campaigns in Greece and Crete where he escaped from the Germans and was awarded a Military Cross.  His citation read:

"This officer is the best company commander I have known in this or the last war.  Throughout the campaign he has led his men on all occasions with courage, cheerfulness, calmness and skill."

But Ralph's greatest feat of leadership was surely his efforts when called on to take over from the fallen commander of the fledgling 39th militia battalion on the Kokoda Track.  Aged 37 when he was rushed up the Track after returning from the Middle East, he led troops, with an average age of perhaps 20, who had received little training, had few supplies or ammunition and who were faced, in their baptism of fire, by a hardened Japanese force which outnumbered them often by ten to one.

It's difficult to imagine another man who could have triumphed in this situation.  Exhibiting brilliant leadership, he galvanised the young Diggers and held the position at the battle of Isurava long enough for reinforcements to reach him and allow a fighting withdrawal down the Kokoda Track which would ultimately defeat the Japanese invasion force.

Ralph continued to lead the 39th, and later the 2/14th battalion, in New Guinea until his fighting days were ended with a bullet that shattered his hip in the Ramu Valley.

After the war, Ralph chaired the War Pensions Assessment Appeals Tribunal and won acclaim for his fair treatment of veterans.  He was later appointed Australia's Ambassador to Ireland.