Eulogy for Stan Bisset

Twenty years ago, we were interviewing veterans for a documentary on Kokoda. When Stan Bisset appeared, I distinctly remember thinking: someone’s called central casting and they’ve ordered a hero!

Stan didn’t think he was a hero but he was a hero to me and I know he was a hero to many others here today.

Stan had star quality: that indefinable amalgam of physical presence and character that sets the remarkable ones apart. He was a sporting hero who blossomed into an authentic hero in the cauldron of war.

Stan was an elegant man who carried himself with grace. He was a gentleman in the true sense of the word: one of those rare individuals who had both style and substance. He showed respect to others … and in turn he received respect. He had, and he lived by, a deep sense of duty and honour. He was a natural leader.

He lived his life true to his principles … a man of courage - both physical and moral - of compassion, loyalty and selflessness. He inspired many of his own generation … and many of those that have followed.

I know that barely a day went by that Stan didn’t think about his beloved brother Butch. He was determined to lead his life well so that Butch’s sacrifice was not in vain.

I was proud to have had Stan as a mentor and a friend. I learned so much from him and I’ve admired so much about him. I loved the way he refused to concede an inch to Father Time ... how he fought to the end, showing the courage for which he was famed.

I remember a couple of years ago, when he had some lingering leg sores, Stan heard that the Brisbane Broncos’ players had used a hyperbaric chamber to hasten their recovery. Stan checked it out on the web and arranged for the department of veterans’ affairs to take him to Brisbane to follow the Broncos’ example. He cured his sores and then started a new exercise regime. He was 96 at the time.

Stan loved and was deeply proud of his children, Tom, Holly, Sally, Jim and Ros. His world revolved around his beloved Gloria. I thank you all for sharing your Stan with us.

For more than 60 years Stan was the lifeblood of his battalion association. He helped countless old comrades. He worked tirelessly to keep the Kokoda story alive. He was unfailingly generous with his time and his energy to all who found their way to his door, inspired by his part in the Kokoda legend.

Who could forget Stan singing … in his beautiful baritone voice … his battalion song “Spearhead of the Army”

Who else but Stan could inspire awe and admiration with lyrics like “we’re fistical, ballistical and very much militaristical. We’re the boys for the scraps, just look at the tilt of our caps … we’re even very definitely most belligerent chaps.” When Stan sang it, it roared like a battle anthem … a sacred hymn of praise to a band of a special men.

Stan now joins Butch … and so many of his mates who have gone before him … Phil Rhoden, Don Duffy, Chas Butler, Bob Dougherty, Teddy bBar, Maurie Taafe, Alan Avery, Charlie McCallum, Bruce Kingsbury, Ralph Honner, John Metson, Claude Nye, Lefty Langridge and so many, many more.

Australia is a better nation for having a man like Stan Bisset as one of her sons … and we’re all better people for having had Stan in our lives.

Like the spirit of Kokoda, Stan’s spirit will live on.

Godspeed old friend.

VALE Stan Bisset MC OAM (1912-2010)

Stan Bisset, who died on the Sunshine Coast on 5 October, aged 98, was one of the heroes of the Kokoda campaign in WWII, and Australia’s oldest Wallaby rugby international.

I’ll never forget watching Stan as he stood in front of his beloved brother Butch’s grave at Bomana War Cemetery outside Port Morseby. It was August 1998, during what Stan and his fellow Kokoda Diggers called The Last Parade, their pilgrimage to say a final farewell to the mates they left behind. 

It was the first time Stan had visited the grave since Butch had died in his arms on the Track 56 years earlier. He stood there silently for a long time. I could see the emotions surging through him. As always, he stood ramrod straight but tears welled in his noble eyes as the memories flooded back. 

There before him lay Butch, his life cut short by the terrible random selection of war like so many others on the Track. Stan had vowed to lead a good and productive life to honour Butch’s sacrifice. And he had been as good as his word. He had raised a fine family, forged a long and successful career and had done all in his power to keep Butch’s memory and the story of Kokoda alive. 

While I watched, Stan gently wiped the tears from his eyes with his powerful hands and then brought them to his side. He squared his shoulders and paused. Then he swept his right arm up in a crisp, practised salute: an homage from a warrior, a farewell from a brother.

Stan has a deep rooted sense of duty and an unshakeable sense of honour. He had, and still has, star quality: that indefinable amalgam of physical presence and character that sets the remarkable ones apart. He was a genuine sporting hero who blossomed into a military hero in the cauldron of war. 

I vividly remember when I met him for the first time, doing interviews with the veterans for a documentary. My immediate thought was that they’ve ordered a hero from Central Casting and they’ve sent the perfect specimen.

Stan’s former commanding officer and lifelong friend, the late Phil Rhoden, told me that Stan had no time to grieve for Butch during the battles along the Track and took many years to recover from the loss. Like so many other Kokoda veterans, the campaign was one of the defining experiences of Stan’s life. Somehow, Stan dealt with the blows and got on with his life. 

Stan Bisset is quite simply one the finest men I have met. I have been privileged to call him a friend and a mentor for twenty years. He personified so many attributes of the Digger to me: courage (both moral and physical); compassion; selflessness; independence; loyalty; resourcefulness; devotion; coolness; and humour.

He carried himself with the bearing of a natural leader and a champion sportsman. Even as he neared his century, he continued to inspire me and all those who know him with his dogged refusal to surrender any ground to Father Time. 

Since the rediscovery of the Kokoda story about 15 years ago, barely a day would go by without someone wanting to contact Stan and meet him. Without fail, he gave his time and his support.

In 2000, Stan was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for his service to veterans, particularly through the 2/14th Battalion Association.

Stan is survived by Gloria and his children and grandchildren

Stan Bisset, like his story, is timeless.