McDonald, Alan Milton – NX48106
N X48106 Alan Milton McDonald often wondered about a mystery potion that saved his life and the life of mate when they were fighting on the Kokoda Trail.
Alan was born in Lithgow, on March 7, 1921, the second born of five children of Richard and Maud McDonald.
He enlisted at Paddington, on September 23, 1941. After basic training he was sent to the Middle East where he joined the 2/33rd as a replacement following the battalion’s heavy losses during the Syrian campaign.
Like most returning soldiers he talked with his Army mates about what they went through in the war, but never his family. The only story he ever let slip wasn’t about the fighting but was about the time he and another soldier became separated from their platoon and became lost in the jungle, a terrifying experience that almost cost them their lives.
Alan died on August 16, 2016. Delivering the eulogy at his funeral at Woy Woy, his granddaughter, Kylie Downs, said her grandfather never spoke about what happened in combat, but added:
Alan Mcdonald.
“ He did love sharing one story from the war. While fighting on the Kokoda Trail he and a mate became separated from the platoon.
“They were very sick when they came across some New Guinea natives who gave them a special potion to drink. When they woke up three days later they asked the Fuzzy Wuzzy angels what they had given them.” They wouldn’t reveal what as in the potion.
Kylie said: “The natives told them that if they weren’t killed in the war they would have a long and happy lives.” That turned out to be case for Alan. He lived to the age of 95.
“If only we could find that magic potion,” Kylie said. “On re-joining the battalion Alan said he was ordered to engage the enemy, bring back the wounded and bury the dead.”
Kylie said: “I can’t imagine how mentally hard that must have been. While he was proud to have served his country he was always quick to say war was a gross waste of human life.”
Alan was 20 when he enlisted. After Kokoda he saw action with the 2/33rd in New Giuinea and Borneo.
After his discharge on January 15, 1946, he met seamstress Rita Lillian at a dance at the Albert Pallais. They married in 1948 and lived at Ryde. Alan became a contract painter after leaving the Army.