Today our Lark Force trekkers returned by boat from Tol back to Kokopo. They are all safe, showered and ready for dinner. Over the last week they have made their way across the Gazelle Peninsula following in the footsteps of the soldiers of Lark Force who desperately tried to get away from the invading Japanese. 

One of those soldiers was Private Leslie Albert Norris who enlisted under the name John William Elliot at Melbourne Town Hall on 11 June 1940. He was a dairy hand from Bendigo, married and 35 years of age. He originally enlisted as a signalman and also was employed as a cook until making his way into the 2/22 Australian Infantry Battalion AIF. 

At 1:00 am on 23 January 1942, 5,000 Japanese troops came ashore at Blanche Bay, vastly outnumbering the 1,396 soldiers of Lark Force awaiting them. Resistance lasted only a few hours before Lark Force commander, Colonel John Scanlan (1890 - 1962), ordered the men to disperse in an 'Every man for himself' withdrawal. No contingency plans were in place for retreat, chaos ensued and Lark Force disintegrated.

Like the fate of so many others, PTE Norris would not survive his service in Rabaul. He is listed as deceased on 1 July 1942. 

On 1 July 1942, 845 Australian soldiers and 208 civilian internees, captured on New Britain and New Ireland, were killed when the Japanese transport Montevideo Maru was sunk by the submarine USS Sturgeon. Another sixty Australian officers, six army nurses, 17 civilian nurses and female missionaries on board Natuno Maru reached Japan sometime later. There they remained until liberated in September 1945.

Following in the footsteps of PTE Norris are his two grandsons, Peter & Stephen Elliot. They visited Bita Paka Cememtery where their grandfather is commemorated on the panels listing the names of those with no known grave. 

Lest We Forget