About half an hour’s ride from my home is Bass Point Reserve. I’d ridden past it a few hundred times and flown over it even more. Then a friend last week suggested I go visit. He told me that around 80 years ago, during WWII, acts of incredible bravery and heroism were carried out by Australian Soldiers in rescuing 62 Americans shipwrecked on a stormy night in 1943 on an oil tanker. 4 Diggers made the supreme sacrifice, losing their lives whilst rescuing the Americans sailors. It must have been quite a night from the official records.

I decided to go see the memorial myself, riding my venerable 39 year old BMW R80G/S on the dirt roads leading to the site. A large boulder with inscriptions memorialises the 4 men who died that night. I was moved. Very moved. As an ex-conscript Army Infantry Officer, I was sad to read the deaths were 3 Privates and 1 Sergeant. The inscription describes not just the profound loss of the men but also acknowledges the appreciation that Americans have for Australians, especially the 4 men.