Atherton’s Jim Grebert, 100, recalls horrific combat in New Guinea on Anzac Day in WWII

As we commemorate Anzac Day, Queenslander Jim Grebert, 100, recalls the time an enemy mortar shell nearly buried him and his comrade alive during combat in New Guinea in World War II.

Their ranks are growing thin but Australian World War II veterans are still among us.

And a venerable Queensland military man who fought in New Guinea is a shining example of what has been appropriately dubbed “The Greatest Generation”.

Jim Grebert, 100, the oldest member of the Sandgate RSL sub-branch, was born in Atherton in Far North Queensland and enlisted on July 21, 1943.

Jim served with the 58th/59th Infantry Battalion Australian Imperial Forces in New Guinea (now Papua New Guinea) and Bougainville, and can still remember those horrific moments of combat.

World War II veteran Jim Grebert, who served in the 58th Infantry Battalion in New Guinea and Bougainville, and great-great-grandson Connor, 4, at Sandgate, where he will take part in the Anzac Day proceedings on Tuesday. Picture: Lachie Millard

In reminiscences now on record in the Australian War Memorial, Jim recalled a mortar hit that nearly buried him and his comrade alive.

“You’d hear this big shell coming over, tumbling, and then it went swoosh, and you knew it was going to come on top of you,’’ he said.

“All I ever found of my gear was a little photo of the girl I used to write to, and even then, the shrapnel tore it in half.

“I lost everything, but I was lucky.

“I remember another bloke, he was in this hole, and he says, ‘In here, in here’.

“So we got in on top of him and we felt quite safe in there.”

Jim, who turned 100 in February, was flown to Canberra to attend a celebration where RSL Australia presented his 100th year certificate.

The Australian Army in New Guinea during World War II.

That was followed by a visit to the Australian War Memorial. where he was given the chance to have a close look at the tribute to his old battalion.

RSL Brisbane North District president Merv Brown OAM congratulated Jim.

He said the district and his local sub-branch had welcomed the opportunity to celebrate the veteran’s impressive milestone in keeping with the league’s ethos of care, commemoration and camaraderie.

“It was wonderful to see Jim recognised for his unwavering commitment to his country and community at the Australian War Memorial’s last post ceremony,” Mr Brown said.

Jim’s granddaughter, Helen Bishop, said she witnessed a poignant moment when she saw her grandfather write a note to long-dead friends.

Jim had been deeply affected by wartime experiences, including having to go out and find the body of a friend who had died several days earlier.

World War II veteran Jim Grebert, who served in the 58th Infantry Battalion in New Guinea and Bougainville, at Sandgate, where he will take part in the Anzac Day proceedings on Tuesday. Picture: Lachie Millard

But her grandfather also maintains a positive attitude to life which keeps him going every day.

He still enjoys a morning walk during which he visits a pair of dogs he has developed a great affection for and who live a few streets away.

While there are no official estimates on remaining World War 11 veterans living in Australia, unofficial estimates put the number at well below 8000.

It was US Army General James Van Fleet who coined the phrase “The Greatest Generation’’ for the men and women who comprised the Allied powers who fought the Axis power in World War II.