Tracing the footsteps of heroes in Timor-Leste
Recipients of the Jonathan Church Good Soldiering and CA's Instructor of the Year awards explore the battlefields of WWII in Timor-Leste.
Participants reach the peak of Mount Ramelau, the highest mountain in Timor-Leste and the highest point of the La Rende Track. Photo: Cpl Michael Rogers
2026 Chief of Army Instructor of the Year Sgt Matthew Booth hikes the La Rende Track during a battlefield study tour in Timor-Leste. Photo: Cpl Michael Rogers
Participants hike past a Timorese pony – the same breed used to carry supplies for the 2/2 Independent Company in WWII – during a battlefield study tour in Timor-Leste. Photo: Cpl Michael Rogers
Participants take part in a cultural exchange with a Timorese elder inside a traditional Timorese house, known as an Uma Lulik, as part of a battlefield study tour in Timor-Leste. Photo: Cpl Michael Rogers
Jonathan Church Good Soldiering Award recipient Cpl Sophie Harris hikes to the peak of Mount Ramelau along the La Rende Track during a battlefield study tour in Timor-Leste. Photo: Cpl Michael Rogers
Participants hike along a mountain ridge in Timor-Leste. Photo: Cpl Michael Rogers
Participants refresh after a hot day of hiking with coconuts supplied by local Timorese. Photo: Cpl Michael Rogers
RSM-C WO1 Matthew Fuery, left, and 2026 CA's Instructor of the Year Sgt Matthew Booth cross a river on the La Rende Track in Timor-Leste. Photo: Cpl Michael Rogers