Secret World War II soldiers identified 80 years on | ABC NEWS

The video follows Hilda Rad Kamatina as she learns that her grandfather, Edwin Richardson, served in the Australian Army during World War II, rather than only working as a cook on sailing boats as family stories had suggested. The piece explains that Richardson was one of six Solomon Islander men recruited into the Northern Territory Special Reconnaissance Unit, a little-known military unit formed in 1941 to patrol Australia’s far north coast amid fears of Japanese invasion. The unit initially prioritized recruiting senior local Aboriginal men, and later added the Solomon Islander crew for its patrol boat. The segment describes the unit’s harsh training and patrol conditions and notes that it was disbanded in 1943, after which the Solomon Six returned home. …

1. A long-forgotten WWII unit involving Solomon Islander men is being rediscovered and documented.
2. Family members reacted emotionally to learning their relative had served in the Australian Army.
3. The Australian War Memorial is actively identifying soldiers and contacting descendants.
4. The report highlights unequal pay and lack of veterans’ benefits for the Solomon Six.
5. One soldier’s identity remains unresolved, keeping part of the historical record incomplete.

• The story says the unit was formed to 'catch and kill Japanese soldiers' while also framing it as a reconnaissance/patrol unit; that mission description is potentially simplified and could be context-dependent.
• The report implies the Solomon Six were broadly forgotten until recently, but provides limited detail on the scope of prior documentation or whether any earlier recognition existed.
• The claim that the sixth soldier is still unidentified rests on incomplete records in the segment; no independent verification is shown on-screen.