Frank Taylor
OWNER/MANAGER, TOUR GUIDE and Tour Director | KOKODA TREKS & TOURS
40 + years of practical experience with off shore operations, including remote localities and developing countries, visiting Australian Military Heritage sites, leading tour groups, educational training, film documentary operations logistics, historical researchers and authors. Experiential depth of management listed below.
Additionally a proven ability to organise and operate group tours and activities to locations as above for special interest groups such as family members of those who served, associations, significant event commemorative tours, researchers and film makers
Registered Australian travel company ( Kokoda Treks and Tours Pty Ltd & Frank Taylor’s Australian Military History Tours )
Frank Taylor, owner/manager, served 31 years in the Western Australia Police (Traffic, General Duties, Tactical Response, Emergency Operations) Deputy Principal Police Academy ) retiring as an Inspector, and 38 years in the Australian Army Reserve (Armour, Infantry and Military Police) through all ranks retiring as a Captain and acting as Provost Marshall Western Region Australia. Experience gained in those services is applied to effective planning and safe operations of tour activities.
Frank Taylor has acted as a consultant for the following:
- Consultant and PNG facilitator for the Australian Army documentary film “The Bloody Track” (1992)
- Facilitated – including PNG Location Management - Chris Masters’ Kokoda Trail filming operations for his highly acclaimed 4 Corners production of "The Men Who Saved Australia" (1995)
- Initiated the concept and facilitated ( PNG Location Management and logistics ) the Electric Pictures award winning documentary film “Requiem for a Generation of Lost Souls” (1996)
- Facilitated ( PNG Location Management and military advisor) the Kokoda Trail and PNG beach head filming of the 2 part documentary "Kokoda" ABC (2010)
- Planned and facilitated author Peter Brune's fact finding trek of Kokoda, Milne Bay and Gona/Buna/Sanananda for his best selling "A Bastard of a Place". (Acknowledged)
- Planned and facilitated author Peter Brune's Singapore/Malaysia/Thailand/Burma exploratory journey fact finding his latest book of The Fall of Singapore/Changi / and the Thai-Burma Railway – “Descent into Hell”. (Acknowledged )
- Facilitated and lead research treks of the Kokoda Trail for Paul Ham and his best selling book "Kokoda" and for Dr. Peter Williams’ for his book “The Kokoda campaign 1942 – Myth and Reality”. ( Both acknowledged )
- Consultative assistance given and acknowledged by author Phillip Bradley for his authoritative reference book “On Shaggy Ridge” and to Bill James’ ( as trek leader & provide research information ) for his “Field Guide to the Kokoda Trail”. ( Both acknowledged )
- Facilitated and lead research exploration and tour to Kokoda areas (North and South ), Oro Province beach battle areas and Oro Bay for US author James J Bradley for his forthcoming work.
- Facilitated and lead research exploration and tour to the Milne Bay battle areas in PNG for Australian military history author Timothy Gellel, fact gathering for his Australian Army Military History Unit funded forthcoming book on the 1942 battle in that area
- Tour Director and historical consultant to the Australian Army in battlefield study tours since 2019 in PNG – Kokoda Campaign and the Beach Head Battles
- Location Manager for National Geographic film “Buried Secrets of World War Two” in Papua New Guinea in 2019
Consultant advice to groups and organisations including PNG’s Tourist Promotion Authority, National Cultural Committee and Oro Provincial Government of PNG; RSL ( Australia ) National Headquarters, Kochi-New Guinea Association ( Japan ); “Australia Remembers” Task Force Australian Department of Veterans’ Affairs; Alamein Military Museum Egypt; Tobruk Tourism Authority Libya; Municipality of Gelibolu Turkey; International Heritage Section Department of the Environment Australia etc
Member of the Kokoda Trail Maintenance Advisory Committee and of the Kokoda Ethics & Advisory Committee which reported to the Australian Prime Minister’s Special Envoy for Kokoda. Founder committee member of the Papua New Guinea Travel Industry Association. He has travelled over the Kokoda Track some 140 plus times.
Committee member of the 16 Battalions’ Foundation and President of the 28th Battalion ( The Swan Regiment ) Association - and life member of that Association.
In November 2015 elected at the inaugural President of the Kokoda Tour Operators Association. Retired from the position November 2017. Elected to the position as Advisor to KTOA Executive and voted life membership.
Member of the newly formed Military Heritage Expert Advisory Group to the Papua New Guinea National Museum and Art Gallery ( October 2017) .
And directly contributed to the planning and execution of the following:
- Establishment of bronze plaque monuments at key locations along the Kokoda Trail, beach locations of Buna, Sanananda, Gona; memorials for RSL Australia, the American Legion, Australian services unit associations and private families; and ANZAC memorial plaque at Gelibolu Turkey.
- Supervisor and project manager for fund raising, organisation and logistics to construct a monument to Brigadier Arnold Potts at Alolo Village on the Kokoda Track PNG with secured donated funds in April 2017.
- Location, reporting and recovery of remains of Australian and United States servicemen from Papua New Guinea locations. Assisted in the search for Dutch serviceman’s remains on the Thai Burma Railway – exhumations pending
- The introduction of Australian relevant historical material and captioning for display in overseas public settings - including museums and schools- such as the Gaba Tepe Museum, Eceabat High Schools ( Gallipoli ), the Alamein Military Museum Egypt and in Tobruk, Libya, Grass Roots Museum ( Kochi Japan ), Gelibolu ANZAC Museum ( Turkey ), Ranau and Sandakan Sabah ( Borneo )
- Village community benefit works in the Owen Stanley Mountains, Finisterre Mountains, Buna-Gona-Sanananda and other remote localities in Papua New Guinea; “Weaving for Women” support group Sangklaburi, Thailand
- In February 2016 organised and operated a tour along the Thai Burma Railway in Myanmar from the war time rail junction at Thanbyuzayat to the Thailand border at Three Pagodas Pass. Advised that this was the first formal tour group permitted along that route for some 50 years due to the Myanmar Government imposing a “Forbidden Zone” restriction. Permission was granted after some 14 years work for approval.
- Planned and operated – with appropriate research and reconnaissance – Australian military heritage tours to Borneo ( Sandakan PW Death March, Labuan Landings etc ); Greece and Crete, Gallipoli, Thailand and Burma; Malaysia and Singapore; Western Front ( France and Belgium ); Kokoda Campaign ( Kokoda Track and Gona, Buna, Sanananda) and Milne Bay in Papua New Guinea; and Libya (Tobruk) and (el Alamein) Egypt.
- Invited guest speaker to the University of Liverpool United Kingdom June 2017 to speak on searching and finding PoW Camps on Borneo for the Far East POW Association.
- Numerous public speaking engagements including Legacy, Rotary, various clubs and associations.
Neville Browning OAM
TOUR GUIDE | KOKODA TREKS & TOURS
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Rod Beattie
TOUR GUIDE | KOKODA TREKS & TOURS
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PHONE 08 9446 9856
Authentic Military Heritage Tours by fully qualified and field-experienced Guides
Over 40 years experience in tour operations and planning in remote areas, including Papua New Guinea, Borneo, Thailand, Burma, Egypt, Libya.
Management and staff who have in depth historical and geographic knowledge of areas toured and military historical sites and events, in PNG and other countries
Supervisors experienced in remote area and urban tour operations in PNG, Borneo, Singapore, Malaysia, France, Belgium, Greece, Crete, Thailand, Burma, Turkey, Egypt and Libya.
Full operational travel experience and campaign history with accurate information content and wide geographical knowledge in our programming.