Bluey shares tales of war and reflects on father’s WWI service ahead of Anzac Day

MONALD “Bluey” Moss is a Digger with a very rich Australian military history and he’s as feisty as the day he signed up to serve his country.

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Monald “Bluey” Moss is a Digger with a very rich Australian military history.

He is 91 years old now but the Margate man is as feisty as the day he signed up – a young lad ready for action.

He had been working as a message boy for Peterson’s Florist at Queen St when he signed up at just 18 years old.

Mr Moss landed at Milne Bay in Papua New Guinea in August 1942.

“I got the nickname ‘Gunga Din’ as I was elected to go to the Yank food dump, get cases of Yank rations and water,” he said.

Mr Moss worked in the Vickers gun section with the Americans and experienced close-range combat with Japanese soldiers.

In his memoirs, he recalls, along with another young man from Redcliffe, coming face-to-face with a Japanese soldier armed with a pistol.

“Eric Kettlewell from Redcliffe and I both downed him with quick shots,” he said.

When Mr Moss returned from Milne Bay, he met a young lady in Sydney named Olive whom he later married.

Her father was well-decorated, a man who served in the Boer War and Gallipoli.

In 1949, Mr Moss returned to the military and joined the Royal Australian Air Force, staying until the late 1960s and travelling the world.

“Where would I be today if it hadn’t been for two gentlemen named Hitler and Tojo?” Mr Moss said.

“I got a taste of service life, I have one of the best women in the world for a wife, four children … our own home.”

He has kept his late father-in-law’s war memorabilia – he was a Regimental Sergeant Major in the 12th Light Horse.

Originally published as Bluey shares tales of war and reflects on father’s WWI service ahead of Anzac Day