In 1945 a small girl of eight years is told her father has died a prisoner of war on an island called Ambon. Where is this place? she asks, looks on a map and there it is - a tiny island in Indonesia.

Since that time, Gull Force 2/21st Battalion Association has travelled to that land for an annual Anniversary of Freedom Memorial Service to remember those men who bravely gave their lives so that we may live free. Initially it was just the veterans, but now it is mainly their extended families.

This year my brother and I were asked to go, but he was ill, and so my cousin Ken Lawson (named after my father) went with me to that distant place with 24 others all of whom had close ties either to the men who died there or to those who had returned home. We had one 2/21st veteran with us, an amazing man: Lionel Penny, 87 years old, turned 88 in Ambon. His nickname was "Popeye", but the natives couldn't manage that and called him instead "Papaya". He was shown great respect and honour by all the Ambonese communities, and many people came to the hotel to visit him.

A little history of Gull Force: In December 1941, the 1131 members of Gull Force were encamped in quarters at Tatui, on the site of the cemetery now containing the graves of the 292 members of Gull Force who died defending the Lahu airstrip, in battles against the Japanese forces at the end of January 1942 (47 were killed then and 229 were executed later). The troops defending the town of Ambon were overrun and those holding the Nona and Amahusu lines were pushed back to Eri and Latahalat by overwhelming numbers of enemy soldiers.

On 4 February 1942, 809 members of Gull Force were marched into Tatui camp, which became a Prisoner of War camp. In October 1942 a third of the prisoners were shipped to Haiman off the coast of China.

Of the 267 POWs moved to Hainan, 75 died and are buried in British Commonwealth War Cemetery in Yokohama, Japan. Another 10, who remain unaccounted for, are named in the Singapore Memorial at Kranji War Cemetery. 182 were recovered of the 528 who remained at Tatui, 407 died and were buried there, while 121 survived.

In summary, of the 1131 original members, 52 escaped either before surrender or from POW camp, and returned to Australia. 300 were repatriated. The death toll was 779, of which 694 are buried or cremated in the beautiful war cemetery at Tatui. This cemetery is most lovingly cared for (not a leaf out of place) and I must say the Ambonese are very respectful of all relatives who visit. Our arrival at Ambon was celebrated with the accepting of Gull Force scarfs especially made for us and ceremoniously placed around our necks.

Mosques play a very important part in Ambon culture and there are many glorious buildings that stand out among the very poor housing conditions of the common people, who are a very happy, contented lot. One mosque we visited was built in 1414.

Military presence is everywhere, with compounds in every village and uniforms pretty much the common dress. I suppose this is because of the 1999 rising, in which, in some communities, Christians were burnt out and made to live in other areas - a bad time in this country's history.

The Ambonese traffic is something you wouldn't believe. Roads not as wide as Binney Street in Euroa with two lanes of traffic, no traffic lights, and buses, trucks, pedalled vehicles and thousands of motorbikes weaving in and out of the traffic. Bikes seem to be always carrying at least 3 or 4 people - mother, father and two children. The traffic police stand in the middle of this bedlam (I don't know how they survive) looking immaculate in their wonderful uniforms. We travelled by bus each day around the islands and visited two more memorials, at Laha and Kudamati, laying wreaths. Always local participation was evident.

Our tour organisers had brought presents for the local community hospital and school, a steriliser for the hospital and computer and copier for the school - presents from a 2/21st member who had passed on. All 26 of us had hospital and school items in our luggage, and because of that, customs were very understanding in both countries and gave us no trouble.

We travelled to Hitu, which was the main harbour on Ambon during the early days of the spice trade, long before European ships came to the spice islands. There we visited Amsterdam port, built by the Dutch to control the trade ships entering Hitu harbour and passing straight between Ambon island and the Humimual Peninsular.

The mayor of Ambon, Mr Jopie Papilaya, extended an invitation to join him for dinner at the Mayoral residence. It was a wonderful night of good music, gaiety and friendship. We presented him with a painting of a kookaburra and sang "Waltzing Matilda".

We enjoyed beach parties on pristine beaches with lovely big shade trees to sit under and swims in blue, clear water.

The sea in the city area of Ambon is a different matter. There it is awash with rubbish so badly you can't imagine. It appears that a yacht couldn't anchor there because they couldn't start the propeller on account of the flotsam and jetsam. Rubbish is a great problem in Ambon, as there is no collection, so you see rubbish piled high on blocks, down hills and in gutters. I can not see how they will solve this problem.

We spent time at the Totobuang Museum, which is very informative on the subject of how the local people lived when the Dutch were in charge. We were greeted by four men, three playing drums and one playing percussion instruments like little kettles, ten or so on a table. They made great music. We saw early housing, traditional costumes, pottery, headdresses and china.

A wonderful day at the beach found us being entertained by the Bamboo dancers. Our boys joined in and gave them a great tussle - one little guy was lifted right off his feet by our "giants".

From there we went on to visit hot springs at Hatassa in Tulehu village and then to see the huge holy eels, which are fed with eggs. The water was crystal clear. Further up the stream the women were washing their clothes, pummelling them on the rocks. Hard yakka!

At Karang Panjang we saw the statue of Christine Tiahahu, a seventeen-year-old warrior woman killed by the Dutch. The statue stands about three storeys high and there is a magnificent view of the harbour from the top.

Leaving them for Bali, we arrived at Denpasar to be each presented with a gorgeous lei of frangipani.

Our last day was spent on a bus trip to the mountains, calling at wood carvers' and silversmiths' shops, very hard to resist. We had lunch at the summit restaurant, admiring its magnificent view of Bali's three mountains with a crater lake in the centre. The last volcanic eruption was still evident in the barren lava flows on the mountain side, where even now, years later, nothing grows.

Home again in Australia, it was lovely to see our wonderful homeland. Believe me, we are so lucky to be part of this magnificent country. God bless Australia!