By Mikayla van Loon
Hundreds of people gathered on Tuesday 4 July to bid farewell to a man of “nerve and courage” – Mount Evelyn’s Roger Boness.
The war veteran, father, grandfather, brother and friend died after a long battle with cancer aged 77 on Thursday 22 June.
Remembered for his determination and humour, Roger’s children Alice and Stuart said there was never a dull moment spent with him, whether it was watching the St Kilda Football team, fishing or being at the beach.
Recounting childhood memories, Alice said despite his methods, Roger instilled in her a love of the ocean and deep water diving.
“Dad taught me how to swim in the giant rock pool on the foreshore of Cape Patterson. Dad literally threw me in the pool facedown and said blow bubbles,” she said.
“I was not getting out of that rock pool until I showed him my ability to breathe underwater.”
Times of fishing with Stuart on many occasions and telling the same stories over and over again or having to hold the phone away from your ear because he’d be almost yelling from the other end, Stuart said “it’s all those little things that made dad unique”.
As a young man, Roger took on many jobs to help scrape together some extra money, whether it be delivering newspapers, becoming a milkman or working for the local council collecting rubbish, as his brother David liked to call it “a garbologist”.
“He used to rummage through the hard rubbish collections, finding parts to make bikes and Billy carts and skateboards,” David said.
From growing up in a working class family where money could be tight to being conscripted in the Vietnam War at the age of 20, Roger was said to have been “physically strong and mentally tough and he had one of the strongest wills” ever known.
“My dad was a great father. He brought my brother and I up to be hard working, strong, capable and resilient. My dad’s life motto was to never give up no matter how difficult the challenge,” Alice said.
“This was true in his personal battle with cancer. Dad had the strongest will to live and he gave his cancer all that he had.”
Perhaps the biggest showing of his ability to ‘never give up’ was during his service as a Forward Observer in the 106th Field Battery, 4th Field Regiment, where he served alongside “130 infantry men, for a company 7th battalion in the Royal Australian Regiment”.
Roger’s former officer Neville Clark, who called his mate Bones, said he had a true gift in navigating the jungle.
“In the trackless jungle of Vietnam, with visibility sometimes down to 10 metres, you had to know where you were and Bones became an absolute expert,” he said.
“That was no mean feat because in those days before the GPS, he only had two instruments. One was a prismatic compass…And the other instrument he had was his own pace, his feet.
“Bones counted one by one literally hundreds of thousands of paces all through the jungles of South Vietnam.”
Neville said Roger’s other great skill was determining the direction of artillery fire, particularly during the Tet Offensive when he was often on his own calling in fire on the enemy.
“Bones had what it took for that job. Two qualities in particular, nerve and courage,” Neville said.
Just as he was in the jungles of Vietnam, Neville said his good friend and fellow serviceman embedded those characteristics into every aspect of his life.
“He was a born leader. He gave loyalty and he attracted loyalty…Bones didn’t need pips on his shoulder to inspire confidence and respect. As a leader, he showed the classical military principles of being fair and firm and friendly. He hated unfairness. He hated dishonesty.
“He was tough. He was the embodiment of the spirit of Anzac and he also had a kindness, a well of kindness in him, which out-flowed to many people.”
Returning home in March 1968, having been through near death experiences in both combat and having suffered from malaria, Mount Evelyn RSL president Matthew Crymble said even Roger found it hard to readjust.
“By his own admission, he found it hard to readjust back to civilian life. As Roger said, ‘it took me a whole year at least to even start to become normal again. A lot of my mates were feeling the same. We’re all going through the same thing. We weren’t coping,’” he said.
“Roger was very proud of his service in Vietnam and very proud of the mates he served with over the years.
“He did a lot to educate people about Vietnam and the role he and other Australians played in that conflict. He was highly respected in the district for being a Vietnam veteran.”
While dedicating many years of his retired life to the RSL and betterment of veterans health and wellbeing, Roger too was known for his days playing at the Mount Evelyn Football Club, as a lifesaver at Venus Bay, as president of Mount Evelyn Tennis Club and many other roles.
Although having grown up in Bentleigh with his older sister Majorie and younger brother David, it wasn’t until Roger met and married the love of his life that a change in scenery was needed.
“Roger and Julie met on the eve of Roger’s conscription into the Australian Defence Service in 1966,” it was said at the funeral on 4 July.
“Roger went off to war and fate would have it that they were reunited and they were married in 1970.
“They started their future together in the suburb of Brighton and from there they moved to a bungalow in Mount Evelyn. The bungalow was simple and they relied on a kerosene heater for hot water. A Creek ran past and they made the best of it until they could purchase some local land.”
The community Roger and Julie loved and gave so much to, in return loved and gave so much back to them.
“His dedication to the community led to his award in 2017, the Victorian Senior Citizen of the Year and he was very proud of that.”
Roger left a lasting legacy in Mount Evelyn and will be deeply missed by all who knew him.
Roger Boness, born 21 December 1945, was laid to rest in a tribute of poppies. The Last Post was played to “indicate that Roger Boness has completed his life’s work and has entered into his rest”.
