‘Angel’ in rare visit to Healesville

By Kath Gannaway
Fuzzy Wuzzy Angel, Dickson Hango, was an unexpected guest of honour at a dinner for the Defence Force School of Signals members.
The Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels were an estimated 55,000 Papua New Guineans who supported Australian troops during World War II, helping wounded Australians along the Kokoda Trail.
It is speculated that the 4000 Australian lives lost would have been much larger had it not been for the help of the Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels who carried medical supplies and equipment through the jungle and carried and nursed wounded and sick soldiers to safety.
Mr Hango arrived from Port Moresby on Sunday and was staying overnight in the Yarra Valley as a guest of Leon and Rita Tokar and Joy and Colin Brown before taking part in the Anzac Day march in Melbourne on Monday.
RSL Commemorations Officer Bob Gannaway welcomed Mr Hango saying it was a privilege and an honour to be in the company of someone who, along with so many of his people, including his father and brothers, had served Australian soldiers so bravely and so humanely.
The quietly-spoken 84-year-old was just nine when the Japanese invaded Papua New Guinea.
Mr Hango, dressed in traditional headwear, said the villagers had no warning of the Japanese invasion and their villages were destroyed.
“The men went off fighting and the women and children went into the bush,” he said.
He said his father fought with A Company and he and his older brothers were carriers.
He said he was looking forward to marching in Melbourne … and would be walking with other veterans.
“People who are not strong … they can get in the cars,” he said.