Melvyn Hanly is preparing to walk the Kokoda Trail in April. Photo: Supplied.
For Calderwood veteran Melvyn Hanly, finding a “new family” in the Albion Park RSL sub-Branch 18 months ago has been like “a new lease of life” for him.
It not only allowed the 58-year-old to connect with a veteran community, but has led to him being selected for the gruelling Walk With Us Kokoda Trek.
When he arrives in Papua New Guinea (PNG) on 18 April as part of a group of 10 veterans and four civilians, he will undertake the 96 km journey along the historic Kokoda Track despite a hip replacement at age 49 and multiple injuries requiring surgery in recent years.
Melvyn served 14 years in the British Army as a Lance Corporal with the Royal Engineers.
His career included high-risk operations in Northern Ireland with bomb and arms search teams, United Nations peacekeeping in Cyprus where he led a field workshop and mechanised support during the Cold War in Germany.
“Joining the army was something I’d always wanted to do,” he said.
“My stepfather was in the Royal Signals. I wanted to learn a trade and become a skilled trades person as well as a soldier.
“That was really the guiding factor to which unit or regiment I joined.”
Melvyn said it was now connecting with the Albion Park veteran community that inspired him to want to tackle the demanding PNG trek.
“For me to be back in the fold with a defence veteran organisation has been like a new lease of life for me,” he said.
“It’s been a new family.
“When you’re in the military, you are in a family and I’d kind of detached from that.
“They’ve been an inspiration and they’re the team that have guided me and put me forward to take this on.”
Melvyn said this would be his first Kokoda trail, but not his first major physical challenge since undergoing a hip replacement nine years ago.
Melvyn (front, second from left) in a military group in combat in Northern Ireland. Photo: Supplied.
He said just six months after the operation, he tackled the Mt Kosciuszko walk and later returned to do it again with two of his sons.
“It was thoroughly enjoyable, but two different experiences,” he said.
“The first time there was ice and snow. It was a stunning walk but physically exhausted at the end of it and hip joints were sore.”
On the second attempt, in “atrocious” weather conditions that authorities advised against tackling, he said “the sightseeing on that occasion wasn’t great, and it was cold and wet”.
“Two different experiences, but the end result was still exhausted,” he said.
He said returning to a trekking environment after years away had been “a bit of a culture shock”.
“Not having all the right equipment, being out of that environment as well, you lose touch with what’s modern and what’s available today – just simple things like foot care and blister treatment,” he said.
Melvyn said the support group from the Walk With Us Kokoda team had helped bridge that gap to prepare physically and mentally.
He said although he worked full-time, he trained at the gym every lunchtime and had added long-distance hikes and hill work to his regular routine.
“I know I will get foot issues on the trek, which is where physical becomes mental, because it can wear you down,” he said.
“That can then affect whether you get to enjoy the experience, or whether you get to endure it.”
Although Melvyn is no stranger to military-style endurance, he said Kokoda would be a different experience.
“This one’s got a different perspective in the fact I’m a civilian and a veteran,” he said.
“The organisation of your own equipment is left down to yourself, where everything is normally provided. So whatever you take, you’re responsible for that.”
Melvyn said it was also about the incredible history and meaning behind it for Australians.
(Inset) During operations in Northern Ireland, Melvyn was the first team member to volunteer to put on the bomb suit to carry out a final approach to a suspect IED in 1986. (Main) Melvyn training today. Photos: Supplied.
“For me, Gallipoli is recognised every year in a big way through Anzac Day, but I also believe that Kokoda should be up there on that level,” he said.
“It’s such a heroic thing that the Australian Defence Force carried out, along with the PNG people. It’s just really inspiring.
“Having that connection with Australian military history and learning along the way, it will be very emotional.
“Not only learning the military history but also the contribution and the way of life and culture of the people of PNG. That is a huge attraction.”
At Albion Park RSL, Melvyn has stepped into the roles of assistant welfare officer and qualified mental health first aider, delivering care packages to veterans and widows, organising carer respite events, running presentations on service and supporting the broader veteran community.
Melvyn hopes he can gain stories and insights he can bring back to the veterans he supports.
He thanked Lachlan Stevens for having the inspiration to set up the foundation, which focuses on reigniting purpose and showing that no matter what life throws at you, you can still push on and give back.
