Service: Army – 39 Australian Infantry Battalion
Service number: VX117679
Locality on Enlistment: Beeac
Duration of Service: 18 Jul 1942 – 3 May 1946
Prisoner of War: No
Honours: None for display
Date and Place of Birth: 28 Jul 1922 Beeac
Parents: Albert Edwin COPS and Elizabeth DUNN
Spouse: Una May WILDE
School/s: Beeac
Occupation: Grocer
Date and Place of Death: 1 Aug 2019 Geelong
Place of Burial: Colac Cemetery
NOTES: The 39th battalion was heavily engaged in the defence of Port Moresby, fighting along the Kokoda Track. The Kokoda Trail fighting was some of the most desperate and vicious encountered by Australian troops in the Second World War. Although the successful capture of Port Moresby was never going to be precursor to an invasion of Australia, victory on the Kokoda Trail did ensure that Allied bases in northern Australia, vital in the coming counter-offensive against the Japanese, would not be seriously threatened by air attack. Approximately 625 Australians were killed along the Kokoda Trail and over 1,600 were wounded. Casualties due to sickness exceeded 4,000. Australian War Memorial