At the age of 96, Canberra veteran Jack Olsson is preparing for a journey of respect.
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The retired Bruce accountant will be one of eight veterans from around Australia who will return to Borneo next month to mark the 70th anniversary of a highly strategic campaign of World War II.
He took part in the OBOE landings in British Borneo in May 1945, designed to liberate the island from occupying Japanese forces and costing the lives of 114 Australian servicemen, including three men from Mr Olsson's troop.
"I'd like to see their graves and shed a little tear for them," he said.
"When you think about it, they could have been like me with a family and grandchildren, but it wasn't to be. They didn't have a chance.
"One bloke was shot in the leg and I just shook his hand and said, 'you'll be right mate', but he was the one who died. We all had to write letters of condolence back to their parents and that was hard."
Mr Olsson will be the oldest veteran to go on the trip, with the others aged from 89 to 94.
Veterans' Affairs minister senator Michael Ronaldson said the group would travel over nine days in June visiting significant wartime locations in Singapore and Borneo.
"For many of the veterans, it will be their first time back to Borneo since the war and while the journey will no doubt bring back mixed emotions, it will also be an opportunity for them to honour lost mates and share their stories with Australia," he said.
Mr Olsson was posted to the 2/8th Field Regiment as the troop commander of A Troop. He arrived on Morotai on May 16, 1945 and took part in the OBOE 6 operation, aboard Landing Ship Mechanised 168 in British Borneo.
He was responsible for maintaining four 25-pounder guns and had to move with the forward infantry patrols, still possessing original maps from the time on which pen strokes mark the position of the guns.
"When the infantry wanted fire, I gave it to them," he said.
Jungle fighting was tough going for them all, not just from the constant tension of an ever-present enemy, but also from the conditions.
"Borneo was a very heavily-wooded forest. Intense weather. Hot, rainy, wet. You were wet all the time. You were up to your knees in mud," he said.
Mr Olsson was still suffering from malaria when he returned home. He served for six more years in the army reserve in Sydney and Canberra where he settled in 1951 with his wife Phyl. He ended his army career as a captain and continued his civilian career as an accountant.
