The last surviving member of the Torres Strait Light Infantry Battalion (TSLIB), the only all-Indigenous battalion to serve for the Australian Defence Force, has been laid to rest.
Mebai Warusam, 99, was buried on his home island of Saibai in the Torres Strait on 5 August, only weeks after the second last survivor, Awati Mau, 96, was buried in his community at the tip of Cape York.
The Torres Strait historian Vanessa Seekee, who attended Warusam’s funeral, says: “With the passing of Mr Mau and Mr Warusam, we have seen the passing of a generation the likes of which is doubted we will ever see again.
“It is up to us now to carry on their legacy in the preservation and conservation of the world war two sites in which they served, to pass on their service stories and history to the generations who come after.”
Nearly every able-bodied man, a fifth of the region’s population, some 830 islander men enlisted in the second world war despite never being promoted above the rank of sergeant and only getting a third of the pay of their fellow white servicemen. In addition, a further 40 Torres Strait Malay and Aboriginal men were recruited.
The TSLIB men did not get their outstanding pay until 1986 and did not get their service medals until 2005. The battalion served from 1941 until being disbanded in 1946. A total 36 members died on active service.
The battalion was used mainly in a garrison role, defending the islands of the Torres Strait and the northern tip of Queensland. In 1943 a detachment was sent to patrol Dutch New Guinea and came into contact with Japanese special forces.
The former mayor of Torres Strait Island regional council, Fred Gela, a descendant of one of the very first Torres Strait Islanders to enlist in the battalion, met with Warusam a couple of weeks before his death.
“Our fathers and grandfathers enlisted at a time when under the Aboriginal Protection Act they were not even recognised as a race of people,” Gela says. “But that didn’t stop them from fighting for freedom for our country.
“My dad was one of the first of many that enlisted. Lance Corporal Solomon Gela signed up on 7 June 1941, service number Q85035.
“When they were in training they weren’t given shirts or even trusted with rifles – they were only given broom handles, but the insult didn’t matter.
“They knew that war was coming and our communities, our islands, our families and our children were exposed, because we were the frontline.
“Mum used to tell us they were so scared on her island, Erub, and in communities, as there were only women, children and the elderly left.
“When they started bombing, the Zeros would fly low over them to avoid the radar.”
Horn Island, the region’s airfield, was bombed nine times by the Japanese, and there were several dogfights between Kittyhawks and Zeros.
“With no men to protect them, they had to run with baskets of food and a little bit of firewood into the hills until there was no sign of either vessels or air raids passing by,” Gela says.
“As a descendant of one of the first to enlist in the TSLIB, it was an honour to talk with Mr Warusam in June to record some of our region’s history.
“He shared his early memories of how hard life was before, during and after the war for our people.
“When I asked him what was the best thing to come out of it all, he simply said with great humility one word – ‘peace’ – which is where he and all the TSLIB diggers are now, finally at peace.”
The national president of the Returned Services League, Greg Melick, says: “They served with dedication, bravery and distinction … and the passing of the last two members of the battalion marks the end of an era.
“The passing of Mebai Warusam and Awati Mau is undoubtedly a sad occasion for their families and their communities.
“The RSL honours them and expresses its condolences to their families and its thanks for their service to Australia,” Melick says.
Kim Beazley, the chair of the Australian War Memorial council, says: “The passing of Mebai Warusam reminds us of an era when our defence was genuinely whole of nation.
“We were conscious of the vulnerability of our north and among the many who stepped forward were Torres Strait Islanders of which Mr Warusam was one.”
