Are mirrored in our lives today. |
If you're looking for a particular contact in your own State or area, go to our new Location Listing.
Comments received and Names mentioned:
Many more comments on on the previous page
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Space for YOUR comments:
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Peter Goerman from Batemans Bay:
Perhaps it is the result of having read Coral Island
and Somerset Maugham at an impressionable age, but the South Pacific
islands have always evoked a powerfully romantic image with me.
Mention the South Seas and I conjure up a vision of waving
coconut palms and a dusky maiden strumming her ukelele. Silhouetted
against the setting sun, Trader Pete (that's me!) sits in a deck-chair
in front of his hut sipping a long gin and tonic while a steamboat
chugs into the lagoon, bringing mail from home.
In truth, I came to the then Territory of Papua & New Guinea as an audit clerk
with a firm of Chartered Accountants in Rabaul (and thereby hangs another tale).
When the local newspaper,
the POST-COURIER, began carrying ads for audit personnel on the
Bougainville Copper Project, I applied and was invited to fly across
for an interview in October 1970. In those early days, all incoming traffic stopped
at the transit camp at Kobuan where one had to wait for transport to
Panguna where Bechtel's "top brass" had their offices.
The road to Panguna was still something of an
adventure and it was some time before I could present myself to Sid
Lhotka, Bechtel's Manager of Administrative Services. He hired me on
the spot and I returned to Rabaul to give notice and get my things and
within a few weeks I was back "up top" only to be told that I would be
working at Loloho, senior auditor in charge of several large contracts
such as the construction of the harbour facilities (built by Hornibrook),
the Power House construction (built by World Services), the Arawa
Township (built by Morobe-ANG), and the haulage services (provided by
Brambles-Kennellys.) Des Hudson and a string of
time-keepers, amongst them Neil Jackson ("Jacko"),
Bob Green, and "Beau" Players joined the
team later.
We all lived in Camp Six which was idyllically situated
on Loloho Beach. Every day (and often even before going to work), we would
go for a swim in the beautifully warm and clear waters of Loloho Bay.
Except for one: Bill Avery, our telephone operator who
was ex-Navy and claimed he had a pact with the sharks: they wouldn't come
onto his land, and he wouldn't go into their water. I'll never forget the
day when we had a prolonged power failure and no running water in camp,
and the whole camp population washed and shaved in the surf! Ever since I've been
keeping a cake of soap which lathers in seawater. The camp
had a certain hierarchy with "oldtimers" occupying
the front row of dongas facing the beach, also known as "Millionaires' Row."
Twice a week was film night to which viewers brought
their own plastic chairs and victuals and liquid supplies and watched
whatever was being offered (the
Natives were crazy about Cowboy movies), against a
backdrop of stars twinkling through swaying palm fronds and with the surf
as background music. Payday was the big night in Camp Six with
gambling tables such as Snakes & Ladders doing a roaring trade.
Flick shows (with little to be seen across the tops of a dozen boisterous
guys, all drinking and smoking, crammed into a 6-by-10ft donga) were
also highly sought-after.
The "boozer" (or Wet Canteen in the official
language), set right on the beach of Loloho, was a great place for
an evening out! Offshore, across the dark waters, several small islets marked
the outer limits of the reef. We named them "Number One Island", "Number
Two Island", and so on. On some night, after a sufficiently
large intake of SP (also known as 'Swamp Piss'), heated debates would
develop as to whether they were ships coming into port!
Sometime in 1971 I transferred to Panguna where I was put
in charge of the General Accounts Department with Brian Herde
doing the Accounts Payable and Gaskill keeping
the General Ledger. Neil Jackson somehow found his
way "up top" as well and became offsider to Brian Herde,
imitating one of the Three Musketeers by attacking all passers-by with
a long wooden ruler
until the day the booze got the better of him and he didn't turn up for
work at all. Sid Lhotka visited him in his donga at Camp 3 and rumour has it
that "Jacko" told him to f%@# off! He was on the next plane out!
Another auditor wasn't quite
so outspoken to get off the island but did so even more quickly: Frank Joslin was
given the monthly "perk" of hand-carrying a batch of punch cards to Bechtel's Melbourne
office where he presented himself, never to be seen again thereafter.
His neat little trick became known as "doing a Joslin" and was much talked
about but never imitated. Some of the new recruits to the audit team
were less than delighted with their posting to muddy and rain-soaked
Panguna and started counting the days to the end of their twelve-month
contract - literally! They ran up an adding-machine strip list from
365 days down to zero and pasted it to the office wall, ticking off one
day at a time. Needless to say, not many survived that
kind of mental torture. There were some others who never left Aropa
airstrip: they had seen the mountain range shrouded in
clouds from the aircraft and, refusing to leave the small airline building
and spending a fretful night on a hard wooden bench, reboarded the same aircraft
for its morning flight back to Port Moresby.
Others took to the wild camp life with gusto,
spending what little time was left after a 10-hour working day, in the "boozer"
and even investing in their own 'fridges outside their dongas. The nights
were punctuated by the squeaking of 'fridge door hinges and the squishing
sound of rings pulled off beer cans. A common "status
symbol" amongst serious drinkers were door-frame curtains constructed
from the hundreds of pull-top rings collected from empty beer cans. Les Feeney
was put in charge of the audit group but more often than not
was in charge of the carousing going on in the "boozer" and endlessly
stuffing his pipe but never succeeding in lighting it. He and
Peter the "Eskimo", a lumbering polar bear of a man hailing
from Iceland, ran a constant "throat-to-throat" race as to who was the biggest
drinker. "Bulldog", a likeable Pom, tried
hard to catch up with them! On one occasion he also tried to learn
how to play the electric organ. He never did but the speakers and
amplifier which came with it, were put to good (and all-too-frequent)
use when he played his favourite Neil Diamond record, "Hot August
Night." The whole camp rocked when "Bulldog" plugged in that organ!
I shall always associate "Hot August Night"
with nights at Camp One!
During my time on the island I became a Justice of the Peace and also
obtained my registration as a tax agent (Registration No. TTA322,
dated 26th April 1971)
and assisted many in the camps with their tax returns. I even made successful representation
to the New Zealand Inland Revenue to have the then 18-months "world income rule"
set aside for the Kiwis working on Bougainville. Had I not
obtained this particular ruling, they would have been liable to pay New Zealand
income tax on
their Bougainville earnings. I became something of a scribe for many
in the camp who wanted to apply for a passport or needed documents authenticated
or who - surprisingly - couldn't
read or write and asked me to handle their correspondence - including some
pretty red-hot love letters!!! I always toned down their replies which must have
kept quite a few guys out of troubles!
After Bougainville came stints in the Solomons, back to PNG (setting
up the Internal Audit Department for AIR NIUGINI in Port Moresby where
I run into Brian Herde again who'd taken a job with
Tutt Bryants),
Rangoon in Burma,
Samoa, Malaysia, Indonesia, Iran, PNG once again (setting up the tug-and-barge
operations for Ok Tedi; Bechtel was back in town to manage this
project and with it came Sid Lhotka with whom I had
dinner at the Papuan Hotel in Port Moresby to talk about "old times"),
Saudi Arabia (where I met up with Des Hudson again), Greece -
but none of those assignments came ever close to the comraderie and
esprit de corps of the years on Bougainville!
Over the years I repeatedly ran into "ex-Bougainvilleans" and "ex-Territorians"
in Australia and elsewhere. We would swap yarns which always ended
in a great deal of nostalgia and a hankering for a way of life that
would never come again. Like myself, many had found it difficult
to settle back into an "ordinary" life and, like myself, had moved from
place to place in an attempt to recapture some of the old life style.
I moved on to
Honiara in the then British Solomon Islands Protectorate,
back to Papua New Guinea, then Rangoon in Burma, Iran, again Papua New Guinea,
Thursday Island,
Apia in Western Samoa,
Penang in Malaysia, Australia, back to Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea,
Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, and Piraeus in Greece.
Those were my restless years and I simply couldn't stay put anywhere for more than six months to a year. During all those years of travel it was the people
I met, the many colourful and swashbuckling character, that left the most lasting impressions on me. And perhaps I did likewise to them, who knows? I just wished I
had been a more widely-read person at that time which would've enabled me to gain a greater insight into the people I met and the places I visited.
When I lived in Greece in the early 80s I visited Hydra several times without ever knowing anything about George Johnston who with his wife Charmian
Clift lived for some eight years on the island. George Johnston is of course best known for his book "My Brother Jack" and I have read every one of his many other books since.
When I worked in Port Moresby, one of the old accountants in my office was a Mr Chipps, and the whole office would chortle "Goodbye, Mr. Chips",
every time he left the office without my ever realising that they were making a literary reference to James Hilton's famous book. And of course the same James Hilton wrote
"Lost Horizon" in which he gave us the word "Shangri-La". Indeed, the Shangri-La hotel chain bought the rights to his book and placed a copy on every bedside table in
place of the usual Gideon Bible. I knew nothing of this when I stayed at various Shangri-La Hotels in Malaysia and Singapore and I had barely heard of Hermann
Hesse when I stayed in the suite named after him in the Raffle Hotel in Singapore. I visited Pago Pago without ever having read Somerset Maugham's short story "Rain"
and lived in Rangoon before I had ever heard of Rudyard Kipling's "On the Road to Mandalay". Even Saudi Arabia would've been of greater fascination to me had I
had the time to read Lawrence's "Seven Pillars of Wisdom". How much richer my travels would've been had I done all that reading earlier but of course as it was, I
found just enough time to read the necessary technical literature to allow me to carry out my work. In those hectic days it was an almost unheard-of luxury to find the time
to read a novel. Instead, I studied accountancy standards or IATA rule books, improved my laytime calculation skills, compared charter parties and worked through case
studies in forensic auditing, as the case may be.
To this day I am still fascinated by books about unaccountable accounting or the world's worst maritime frauds. But now that I live in retirement on the South Coast
of New South Wales, I have also found time to dip into John Donne's "No Man is an Island" and Boethius's "The Consolation of Philosophy", so things are beginning to balance out.
I still do some occasional volunteer work overseas. My next trip to
Samoa is due in May.
Read about it here!
|
Guy Thornton emailed from Spain:
God knows how I came across your website.
Yeah, I worked for ODGFMIC as a trades assistant in 70/71. I was 23. My dad was a chopper pilot and in 66 had a short contract flying for Crowley Aviation in Lae. His contract ended, my mum, dad & siblings returned to UKand I just stayed behind. I worked for CDW aka Comworks as a timekeeper. I earned great money and travelled a lot. My girlfriend then got a job at a hotel her uncle was involved in on the little island off Kieta - Aruva, I think it was called. So I flew to Kieta and on the plane sat next to a chap who was one of the bosses of the ODGFMIC joint venture. He very kindly offered me a job. I spent a year at Panguna and then, as the contract wound down, a month or two at Arawa. I don't think I've ever earned as much money since in comparative terms. We did about 3 or 4 hours overtime a day, often 7 days a week. We had great food. I loved it. Used to take the company bus down to Kieta now and then and visit my girlfriend who pushed off to London after a couple of months anyway. On reflection I spent far too much time in TPNG - I was only 18 in 66 when I first went there. Five years mixing with odd types, drinking too much, earning easy money....it didn't really develop my character. Anyway, there we are!
I am retired and live in Spain with my wife of 30 years. Of marriage, not her age. Unfortunately.
I understand TPNG or whatever they call it nowadays, has gone to pot.
Kind regards, |
Murray Tonkin sent this email from Ingle Farm:
Hello Peter |
Bruce Bowers emailed from Singapore:
Greetings to all ...My name is Bruce Bowers and I was one of the unusual expats that didn't work for BCL on Bougainville , but Queensland Insurance (QI) in Arawa 1983-1985.
I took a six-month assignment on Bougainville in March 1983, from the suburbs in Sydney and have never returned to Australia. I currently live in Singapore. I still remember arriving on
Bougainville in shorts with long socks and a safari coat ,with a line of pens in the coat pocket...I had no idea where I was going it was simply an adventure.
I have so many fond memories of my time on Bougainville, the people, the great wreck-diving, climbing Mt. Negrohead behind Arawa and finding the remains of a coastwatcher cave to
great weekends on Arovo island, caving and exploring the islands around Buka in search of Lapita Pottery remains with Barry and Cindy Hastie from Coopers and Lybrand.
Whatever happened to Ian (Patto) Patterson, the panel beater from Arovo Motors, or Mark (have-a-chat) Johnson from Westpac? I remember fondly the Kieta Hotel (big nights)
and the manager who called himself the "Phantom".
I remember a mad young couple from Tal-Air who invited over 30 guests to their farewell at the Arawa Golf Club, collected all cash contributions for the dinner from their "friends",
then flew out the next day to Moresby without paying the bill! Keith Larson from Morgan Equipment - anyone know where he is? Another legend from that time....
Would be great to hear from anyone who remembers me or knows those mentioned above.
Bruce Bowers |
Marlene Coff emailed from Kilmore in Victoria:
Hello, |
Patti Riters emailed:
Hi Peter |
Paul Richards sent this email:
Peter,
I have just seen your web site. I worked on Bougainville from Dec 69 to September 70.
On page 12a you have a photo of Ray Conway. He was my immediate boss. He was a hydrographer, John Milne was the Hydrologist, I was the hydrographer's assistant (sort of like a gun dog to a duck shooter).
Ray and I were amongst the few who worked on both sides of the island from the mouth of the Jaba River to doing the tide tables for Loloho and trying to find out how often Arawa would flood.
Unfortunately, I have lost my photos taken there, but yours bring back memories.
regards, |
Chris Jefferies emailed from Kamloops in British Columbia, Canada:
Hello, Just stumbled upon your site. Name is Chris Jefferies and I lived and worked at Loloho assembling the drying plant. Lived at Camp 1 for a short while,
but for the most part Loloho. Worked there from 1969 to Jan. '72 when I got the hell out to save my neck! Canadian and worked for MKF and Johns and Waygood.
I don't have many more photos for the reason that the "Pella" who was running the mail truck from Kieta, at that time, thought it was really fun to toss the mail out the window and watch it flutter away like the little birds, so a lot of us lost a considerable amount of correspondence and, of course, my return photos.
Nothing surprising about that behavior, but doesn't help old memory lane.
When I left Bougainville, I went to then Burma to work for Toshiba on a hydro project and there I was most definitely not permitted to even have a camera, (Viet Nam time.), so only memories there too. I would not trade my time in those places for anything; especially Bougainville, the Islands and Papua.
Don't know that I would go back, given the opportunity, hard to say, and the likelihood of having that opportunity is little to none, so no point in conjecture.
I don't know if this info is of any use to you, but there it is. Contact me if you have anything that you think that may interest me.
P.S. As an aside, I see that they are talking of re-opening.
Are they going to throw us a party to show us their appreciation for the good job we did of putting it together?
I'm still wearing a damned hard hat and still busting my butt. What the hell have I done wrong?
|
Stan Keilty emailed from Newman in W.A.:
Peter,
[Webmaster's comments: The "Big Copper Mine in the Sky" has a link at the bottom of the Honour Roll page to
www.riverbendnelligen.com/bougainvillesky.html]
|
Hans Fricke sent this email from Sydney:
What a great web-site!
It sure brings back fond memories.
I worked for OGD-FMIC Electrical subcontractors to Bechtel-WKE as an Electrical Supervisor at the copper concentrate site and screening
plant area in 1971-72 and
since returning from Bougainville have mostly lived in Sydney. I'm now semi-retired, and because I think it's keeping me young,
I'm still active in the martial arts. However, my
wife tells me that it hasn't helped one bit so far. :( |
Graham Weston sent this email from Thursday Island:
My name is Graham Weston from Thursday Island. I worked with Ralph M Lee Projects from April 1989 till March 1990 at Arawa. I have just found this website, and a few names I remember.
Although my stay on Bougainville was not long, I still have fond memories of the place. I was an Electronics Technician, and in the job got to travel the length of that beautiful island. Left
a lot of good national and expat friends when we were forced to leave by the Australian Government, but have managed to keep in contact with a few of them. I was able to get back over there a few
times in the early 90's, and was shocked at the destruction of the place. After Bougainville I moved to POM, Alotau, back to POM, Tabubil , then Kiunga ( 17 years ). All up I spent 19 years in PNG,
and now live with my PNG wife and three children at Thursday Island. Jim Hocking had mentioned a guy called Russ Peterson, and that
he did not know where he is now. Well Russ was up at Kiunga,
working as the Marine Operations Manager for Ok Tedi Mining. I had many memorable fishing trips with Russ on the Fly River and down at
the Bensback Lodge. Russ left OTML in the mid 90's,
and shifted back to Bribie Island with his wife and family. He passed away from a massive heart attack in the ( from memory ) late 90's.
Russ always had a good story to tell, and is sadly missed by
all who knew him. I still have a few videos of some of our fishing trips, and some photos of the ones that did not get away. RIP Russ. |
Patricia Collis emailed from Western Australia:
Hi I found the site on Bougainville and looking at the photo's brought back great memories. I was there between the years of 73 and 78, my husband was Jim Craig
he worked on the cranes down Loloho with Warren Haig, are you the guy we used to know as "Pockets". Jim passed away about 9 years ago. I live in Western Australia now and
never see anyone from those days, my son David works around the construction sites all over Oz he took after his father but has heaps more tickets for machinery than his dad had.
He is called Red by every one so if you are the guy who we knew you would remember that David had red hair any way it would be good to catch up
as you can see by the name on the bottom I am called Trish now. The only person I have ever cought up with is Jenny Vibe (Fisher) she is married to George Vibe,
George was the only one from the old days that came to Jim's funeral.
Anyway I hope to hear from you
... and we received a second email from Patricia:
Hi Peter I would like to thank you for the great job that you have done on this site. My name is Pat Green but when I was on Bougainville 73/78 I was married to
Jim Craig he was a crane operator down at Loloho, I really enjoyed looking through all the photos and one in particular caught my attention it is the one captioned
Sunday on the Loloho Beach. That was our boat and I remember the day like yesterday Jim was out on it
with his mates just sitting having a quiet drink and the
small child with her back to the camera is my daughter Tracie, we never asked why the guys did strange things it was just accepted that they did. I will allways
remember my days on Bougainville, I have not kept in touch with many friends from those days but a few spring to mind Jenny Fisher who
married George Vibe,
Warren Haig who was Jims partner in drink/crime we lived next door to Jeff Newsom and a couple of doors down from Norm Fielding, Kiwi Tony who went to Manila
and came back with a bride, my son David went to boarding school with the Fielding boys. but when my daughter Terri had to go away to school I had to go with her.
Terri was killed in a car accident in 1986 and Jim passed away in 1993 or 4 we had been divorced for many years.
I remember the Sports and Social Club and Steve and Robin Grant, Steve used to DJ the dances, I cooked in the kitchen on a Friday night, the holidays we had
down at the married quarters at Loloho. the weekends we had out at Arovo Island and the girls who used to dance out there. I worked with Leen Caruana at Rabaul
Stevedores in Kieta. I remember winning a motor bike from the news agent in Arawa I ended up giving it to my son David because I nearly killed my self on it.
Janet and Denis Cloughly, Denis was known as the mad Irish man. What about JC who lived up on married hill at Panguna now there was a real character.
Jack Plever and Jim had a race to see who had the fastest car on the island Jack had a Monaro and Jim had a chrysler Valiant with a slant motor, Jim won. I
remember the Queen visiting and I was at Kieta and she came walking past us and my daughter Tracie went over to her and said "Hello Mrs Queen" we laughed
about that for ages. I could go on and on but we all have our own stories to tell. I will allways remember those heady days. I had never been out of Victoria or
been on a plane before I went to Bougainville oh boy what an experience it all was. I think I grew up there and I met so many wonderful and strange people I will never forget it.
|
Lizzie Kila sent this email:
Hi everyone, my name is Lizzie Kila. |
Brian Darcey emailed this from Cairns:
Dear Peter, |
Bruce Hawkins emailed this from Narrabri:
Peter, |
John Ainsworth emailed from Brisbane :
G’day won talk. |
Andrew Liversidge emailed this from Brisbane
Hi Peter, |
Colin Cowell emailed this from Canberra:
Hi Pete |
Ken Franklin emailed this from Brisbane:
Hi Peter, |
Pat Gibson emailed from the Gold Coast:
G'day
Just found your web page re. bougainville
and found it most interesting and photos bought back
memories.
I spent from january to November 1971 at
Panguna working at some of the "hands on" part of
construction of the primary crusher and conveyor belt
from there up the hill and over to the concentrator
area as a rigger and later as a "lik lik Dokter".
You apparently worked more on the town side
and probably out of the "pink palace"up on the hill
and had different experiences and saw Bougainville
from a different angle than me.
I have many memories of the place now flooding
back thanks to your pages such as.
Of the hundreds and hundreds of men who passed
through camp 1.who couldn't hack it for various
reasons mostly letting the grog get to them and to
much money.
I worked it out that about 80% of them left
before or just after their three months was up and the
' plane fare was given back to them.the rest went as
soon as the six months contract was up if not before.
I only remember a handful who stayed on after that.I
had nine different room mates during my stay.
Highlites for me were things like first of trying
to master "pidgeon."
A walk from Panguna to the west coast road and
down to Buin picking up "booker'baskets and a souvenir
from Yamamoto's 'plane on the way and getting three
New Guinea shillings in change from the Chinese trade
store at Buin.
Some Sundays down the coast at Kieta and loloho
and getting past the guards at the mess hall for a
feed and bringing back donuts things we never saw at
camp 1.
With my first aid hut being on the road that the
locals traveled on bringing their produce from the
villages up past the top of the mine area down to the
Thursday market over near the town site I made friends
with some and was able to help them in a small way
with burns-ulcers and the like and eventually used to
go to the villages sometimes.
With the help of some "acquired" one inch p.v.c.
pipeing and 30 sheets of galvanized iron a mate and I
were able to bring running water into a village and
build a large opensided hut (tin roof) that the people
could use to great advantage as a communal area and
when it rained.
Swimming and b-b-qs down at the swimming holes
along the Jaba river.
The fun with the "local"guards at the check point
coming back on a Sunday arvo showing our
"passes'(which most of us didn't have) and
substituting any old photo or using each others
id.untill the night that the checkpoint hut was blown
skyhigh and stoped all further checks.
And of course the police boys with their pick
handles in action at the boys bar on pay night when
they "kissem'to much bier or a raid at camp 3.
Could go on but you must be sick of my ramblins by
now-sorry.
I often wonder what it's all like now after all
the troubles they had.
A lot of overgrown wreckage-a bloody great lake
blue-green (leaching copper) slowly overflowing into
and down the once beautifull Jaba river,we shore made
a mess of a beautifull Isl. And buggered up a in the
main nice primitive people.
Only hope the sprouting nuts I bought up from the
coast and planted up above the camp survived and today
are doing some good to someone.it was a nice little
clump when I left despite the fact I was told they
wouldn't survive so high up-still--.
Aarrrr well I hope you'll forgive an old man
rambelling on but then again you started it with your
posting didn't you??ha.ha. also forgive the
spelling-recon it's the old man's disease coming on.
All the best to you and yours and thanks once
again for the memories,
Yours |
Rosana Jaureguiberry emailed from Argentina:
Hi, my name´s Rosana and I´m from Argentina. Just by
chance I came up with your web site and I became
interested when I read how you´re an ex bougainvillean
too, si I thought I´d let you know that here in
Argentina there is one too! I lived on the island when
I was a teenager because my father worked in BCL for
about 5 years. we lived there from 1979 up to 1984,
then we returned to our country,but I´ve never heard
of anyone else who lived there. It´s not such a common
place to live you know!!
Well I´m looking forward to your reply and I´ll see
if my mother keeps a map of Arawa...by the way that´s
where I lived. See you. Bye |
Warren Parsons emailed from the USA:
It was good to read about the good old times in the Solomon Islands.
My recollection of Bougainville goes back to 1945 when there were no
buildings, except for quonset huts and tents. We would watch a volcano
smoking from our camp site and enjoyed swimming in what was called Empress
Augusta Bay. It was beautiful there even then. Our planes could be seen
bombing enemy installations with the volcano smoking in the background.
We, American Navy Medical personnel had a good relationship with the
Australian and New Zealand service people there. I had always wished I had
been able to visit Australia and New Zealand but never got the opportuity.
I enjoy your description of the Islands.
I now reside in Plaistow, New Hampshire, USA. That is just on the border
of northeastern Massachusetts.
I do recall the time we were getting ready to leave the Solomons, we dumped
many pieces of heavy equipment that we could not carry into Emporer August
bay. I suppose now it is a great fish habitat.
While on Bougainville, we were told that the Japanese were making an
attempt to come out of the jungle to destroy our ammunition depot, fuel
depot and air strips. As Medical Corpsmen we carried a small carbine rifle
and we used to sleep with them under our mattresses. All through the
nights we woud hear gunfire so we never got much sleep.
Some Japanese got through the outside perimeter but were captured. We
never did get attacked.
Peter, are your aware of any earthquakes in that area. Recently we had
news that there was Tsunnami with 8.0
readings. I know we used to get some pretty violent tremors when I was
there but the ground consisted of volcanic
ash.
Another thought::
After the Japanese surrendered, an Australian (I believe he was spotting
for the allies) who lived on the island all during the occupation by the
Japanese
brought a family of Chinese people who were traders and had been hiding
during this time. There was a father and
mother and 3 children. They were brought in to have our dentist treat
them. Many of our men had children at home in the states and it was
amazing to hear the sound of little children laughing. They GI's crowded
around to just hear them laugh. Funny how some things effect us.
From looking at our present maps of the area, the names of the islands are
a lot different when I was there. There was small island north of
Bougainville called Green Island. It was a very small island on which I was
stationed for a short time but cannot locate it on the map. I spent most of
my time on Bougainville and when Japan surrendered we were shipped to China
I was amazed to hear of the Copper Mining on Bouganville as there was
nothing commercial there back in 1945.
I enjoy your informative writing and dream of the beautiful islands I once
had the opportunity to visit.
Thank you |
Anja Crute emailed from Western Australia:
Hi all, |
Peter Tuckerman emailed:
Good morning, |
Ricky Hall emailed:
I just found your website and it brought back many fond memories. I spent several years growing up on Bougainville and consider that time to be some of the best years of my life. My Father, Frank Van Kempen worked as an electrician/electrical engineer and also trained the electrical apprentices in the BCL Training Centre. Frank passed away in 1995 after a lengthy battle with lung cancer. I worked on the Chevron operated Gobe Petroleum Project from 1997 to 2000. Several of the PNG national operators were all former apprentices of Frank who he trained at the BCL training centre. I would return to Bougainville tomorrow if the mine was to re-open. I am amazed at the number of people who I have met during my working life who have lived and worked on Bougainville.
I am currently working in Port Hedland, Western Australia responsible for the Safety & Security Management for the Port Hedland Port Authority. While in Port Hedland I have met the following ex-Bougainville people:
1. Rob MALIK
2. Fred BEEL
3. Adam LUKEY
I was still at school during my time on Bougainville and was known by the name of Ricky VAN KEMPEN; I have since changed my surname back to HALL, which was my birth name.
I went to school with and grew up with the following people on Bougainville; |
Sue Robinson emailed:
Howdy!
I lived on Bougainville from 1971 - 1977. My Ma and Da are Colleen and
Peter Robinson - Da was in the Workshop/Warehouse in Panguna.
My story is a bit different from all those I have so far read, mine being
from a kids point of view. I was only six years old when we arrived on
Bougainville. What a life - somehow, without TV's, computers or handheld
games, we managed to either amuse ourselves or be amused by the antics of
others. On the other hand, not many kids these days get to live in paradise
for seven years, nor is the world as safe and fuzzy as it was back then.
Some of my memories are:
No sealed roads when we arrived in Jan 71, the wet season guaranteed that we
got to school (Tupakus Primary School) covered in mud. Some nice man took
pity on us and use to arrive promptly each morning with his end-loader and
carried us to school in the bucket! From memory, we lived in section 14.
Riding down the Bovo River in inner tubes. We lived in Section 8 by now. I
remember trudging up to '3 Rocks' and jumping in, navigating the various '6
footers' and '5 footers' etc and clambering out at 'Hansens Hole' only to
repeat the whole process yet again, and then again, and then again!
The earth quakes of 1974. A 7.7 at 1.00am followed by a 7.2 at 12.00pm the
following day. The sucession fireworks at midnight (cant remember the exact
date) in 1974.
Our house boy destroying a paper wasp nest by clapping his hands on it.
This same house boy also offered to skin a cat for me. I needed a drum skin
for an old atillery shell washed up on the beach. I declined his offer and
used some strong plastic and duct tape instead. My mission was to make a
musical instrument to take back to school after the holidays. How I ever
got through customs with it, I will never know.
The secession riots of 1974 - this was really a good time because the
evacuee's from Panguna were occupying the Bovo Primary School and
consequently us kids got a few days off. I know this must has been a tense
and worrying time, but for a kid it was high excitement. All in all, 1974
was a good year!
Da was very active in the Lions Club and we spent several weekends at Ulendi
(?) village mucking about whilst our Da's were building a new school house.
This villiage was near the headwaters of the Bovo River in the very heart of
the range.
School trip to the top of the range to check out a landing strip up there,
apparently Caribou aircraft were used to fly supplies in and out from an old
air strip. It was really memorable because we were looking down on the mine
and witnessed a blast. I remember one girl was wearing white shorts that
somehow remained white at the end of the day. This amazed me, the rest of
us looked like we had been dragged through a hedge backwards by the time we
got home. One of our teachers or possibly a parent along for the day was in
charge of leach removal after each water crossing using a lit cigarette.
Trekking up to Panguna in our Mini Moke for several of my Ma's ante natal
visits, this apparently was a family affair. Da and my very pregnant Ma in
the front and three of us in the back. This was cool because the 'Moke'
could never make it all the way up without over heating. We liked this
because it ensured at least a 30 min stop, which allowed plenty of time to
pile out and do some roadside exploring.
My Ma absolutely refused to let me 'go off the big rope' at Loloho Beach
after witnessing a horrible fall which resulted in a broken leg for some
poor bloke. This poor man had miss-timed his release from the rope, landed
on hard, wet sand and had broken his femur. At first, his mates didn't move
him from his original landing spot, but the tide was coming in and the
ambulance was still no where to be seen - he had to be moved. I clearly
remember his leg bending midway down his thigh instead of at his knee when
his mates moved him further up the beach. It wasn't until my Ma was safely
stashed away in Panguna Haus Sik after having my little sister (Jenny) that
my Da let me go off the big rope. All went well, but as a little kid I was
too chicken to let go of the rope until it had swung to a stand-still. Much
to my horror, a coral snake was sunning itself right below me and I couldn't
get off. My Da, champion that he is, stood at the waters edge and pegged
lumps of coral at it to shoo it away.
Maleria tablets. Whilst we children would use any subterfuge we could think
of to not put these revolting tasting things anywhere near our mouths, my Da
tried to convince us that they tasted really good by sucking his! He was,
and still is, a very sick man. By the time my little sister came along, a
much friendlier sugar coated version had become available.
Launching of the SP Maru. By the time this outboard powered, outrigger
cannoe was eventually launched at Loloho Beach, the adults had consumed far
too many SP Lagers and the bloody thing would only go backwards.
The memories are flooding back and I risk boring you all to tears if I keep
going . . . My adventure ended with a phone call (I was at boarding school
in Brisbane at the time), my Ma had rung to say that we were going finish
and I would not have the chance of going back to say goodbye. My big sister
(Linda) and I were instructed to catch a bus at the conclusion of the school
year, from Brisbane and meet up with Ma and Da in Sydney. So ended my
idyllic childhood in Utopia/Bougainville.
The main names I remember are (school mates):
Stacey Champion,
Claire Thomas,
Beverley Connor,
Elizabeth Pearson,
Richard Morgan,
John Christensen,
Gina Dutton,
Louise Karioke (I think her dad was a copper)
Teacher - Year 6 (1976, Bovo Primary)- David Jones
Ma & Da's mates:
Peter Hayes,
Russell Wilson,
Tony (don't remember is last name, but he looked a lot like Boonie),
Jerome Wallace,
Fred and Leonie Deryshire,
Greg and Pilar Boyle,
Peter Hansen,
Bonnie Dutton
Cheers for now |
Graham (Blue) Rodwell emailed from Western Australia:
Hi Peter, |
Mike Edwards emailed:
G’day, |
Peter Bowman emailed:
I hadn't realised that there were so many people who woke up in the morning and wondered how they could have their Bougainville years again - or just how they could spend a weekend at Arovo or Buin.... Congratulations on making a wonderful site; I am here by accident as I have been trying to track down Joe Lahita's email or ordinary address, have had no luck, and my daughter suggested a Google search - I usually have plenty of ways to waste time, but this site has been a beauty. Many, many names from '71 to '73, and still a lot more reading to do. Right now I am wondering if you would be able to forward this letter to Joe Lahita whose name is on your contact list, or even if you could simply advise his mail address - while working in Cambodia (1999 - 2003) a virus made my computer disc bagarap tru. While I'm here, gidday to Brian Dodd (an original member of the Bougainville Ski Club - "for today we rest" ) and who I know has been in contact as well. I won't start any more remembering at this stage as it is too early to open the fridge. My address for anybody interested is pbce1@bigpond.com Good fishing...............Peter Bowman. |
Roy Goldsworthy a.k.a. "Goldfinger" emailed from Kuala Lumpur:
Hi Pete, a bit of a surprise to see the boug copper site and even myself pictured. |
Graeme Hore emailed from Victoria:
Hi Peter |
Werner Seifert emailed from Germany:
Hallo over there, |
Kim Barnsley emailed from Nguiu on Bathurst Island:
Wonderfull web site with so many memories.Thank you.I have many photos that show many more aspects of Bougs, will send them to you when i can access them. I worked for Barclays in Bougainville, and lived for a year in the Kieta Hotel , I then lived at Married Hill at Panguna for a long time. I built the new cinema and hospital at Panguna and worked on many buildings in the minesite. Met my wife there, got married had kids, travelled extensively etc etc, all thanks to Bougainville. Soooo many memories.....Thanks heaps. barracatchers@bigpond.com. |
Graham "Blue" Rodwell emailed from Mackay in Queensland: I spent many magic years ( from 1972 to 1990) on
Bougainville and met some of the best friends one could ever hope to have. Those friendships continue to this day. Having been told about this
website some time ago I have finally made an effort to spend a little time browsing through the Honour roll and some of the other pages.
It is great to see that so many of the people I knew personally or through general association, are well and keeping in touch with one another. When I can prompt myself a little more I will send in a few stories. |
Peter Lovell emailed from England:
I first heard about the Panguna Mine in 1965.
I was the Boarding Officer for Customs in Rabaul, and it was possible that I would get the job of being TCO
( travelling Customs Officer ) to Kieta. The Customs Officer used to travel with the vessel from Rabaul, and do
the customs clearances on the vessel at Kieta port. I wasn't given the job, unfortunately, so it took a few years
before I got a chance to go to Kieta and see the mine. In the meantime I left Customs, having worked in Moresby,
Samarai, Lae and Rabaul. I worked for a Customs Agency in Moresby for a couple of years, and then felt the urge to work
for myself. The year 1970.. I knew the manager of the fledgling BCL in Moresby, and he suggested to Brambles, that
I could handle the customs agency work for the new mine. It wasn't a difficult consignment, because all items imported
via Moresby for the mine were duty free, but I still had to do the paperwork. I flew to Bougainville on 23 Mar 1971,
and stayed at Camp 6 in Loloho. The mine road wasn't finished at that stage, and I remember I was impressed that Toyota
Landcruisers only lasted 10,000 km on those muddy and rutted roads. It was wet and muddy all the time, and I drank a lot
and enjoyed the camaraderie at the camp. I still have my Bechtel-WKE (Bram-Ken) ID badge.. I flew back to Moresby and
continued building up my business, and the BCL work was consistent. BCL used to fly me over to Bougainville on their own
aircraft every now and again, to sort different things out, and I was given the Royal tour of the mine and all the social
spots of Arawa. I went to the island and saw the Japanese fishing vessel still beached on the sand. The mine was an
impressive site. I remember seeing it when the hole had just started, and then towards my last visit of 1981, and seeing
just how enormous the hole had become. My last visit was not company business, but as a squash player. I won the men's
B Grade championship, at the Panguna courts, and the presentation was at the club. We then drove down to Arawa and spent
the night drinking. I couldn't do it now. I lived in PNG for 40 years, and became a citizen at Independence. It is a
wonderful country, although I now live in the UK. I still remember the special colouring of the Bougainvilleans, the blue
tinge of the flora, and the heavy and regular rainfalls. The troubles were there for a long while. Bougainville never
felt part of PNG, and the mine didn't play fair by the landowners. It became a cash-cow for the PNG government, and the
locals were resentful. So it got out of hand.. My favourite place in PNG is Rabaul. Although that is no longer the
Rabaul that I used to know and enjoy. In 1965 Rabaul was the centre of trade and commerce for the Bougainville Islands. The plantation owners used to sail to Rabaul for their rest and recreation. It was a buzzing town.. I was told many times that there was more gold in them-there-hills around Panguna, so maybe one day it will start all over again ?? I enjoyed reading all the articles, and it reminded me of those halcyon days. Ciao |
Al Kauslick emailed from the USA: Hi from Al Kauslick in the USA. I was the Euclid Engineer from 1977/78 and 1988/89.
I was there with my wife Rita. Rita passed away in 1997. After we returned from BCL in l978 she came down with encephalitis and had
a very difficult time medically until she passed away. My job at BCL was to be with the Euclid R-170s and R-190s. The exciting part of
my 2 tours had to do with the Yamamoto shoot down and wreckage over Buin. I visited the site several times and took photos, video tape,
etc. My cousins husband, Jack Benner was a sergeant in the P-38 group that shot down Yamamoto and he knew the pilots and ground crew. I subsequently was involved with Tom Lanphier, Rex Barber, John Mitchell, et al who flew the mission. There was always a contraversy in the US as to actually shot down Yamamoto. The Air Force aces assn became involved because of the data I had generated and with the help of Senator Robert Dole a review board was set up at the Pentagon and the surviving pilots, ground crew and other experts testified for 3 days. Tom Lanphier had passed away by that time. Lanphier claimed publically many times that he approached Yamamotos Betty bomber from the right at right angles and shot off the right wing and the Betty crashed into the jungle. Rex Barber claimed that he came in from the rear at 6 o'clock and fired into the rear and left engine. The photos and video tape we took supported Barber's claim. However, after a long deliberation the Dept. of Defense refused to change the records and both Lanphier and Barber are equally credited. Barber and Mitchell passed away a couple of years ago. The air force aces assn. was trying to get the Medal of Honor for Barber and Mitchell, but were unsuccessful. If you all are interested try the web site: www.syma.org which is the web site for the Second Yamamoto Mission Assn. I personally am in great medical shape at 72 years. I have remarried after being widowed for 3 years. I married a high school classmate of mine who was also widowed. When we got married we had a mission statement which is: Our objective in life is to have no objectives in life. Good luck and good health to all the BCL alumni. Al Kauslick kauslick@cs.com. |
Roger PORTEOUS emailed from Brisbane: Have read your site with interest - many memories flooding back. I lived for 16 years in Buin from 1962 to 1978, on the bottom end of Bougainville. Worked for DASF (Department of Agriculture, Stock and Fisheries) until 1966 then as self-employed trader. There was another Australian bloke down there at Buin at the time who collected butterflies. His name was Ian Littlejohn; he is (as am I) married to a Chinese girl. My establishment was on the Main road, Ian's on the divided "downtown" road. Moved to Australia and took up Farming in Central Queensland, then into Rural Real Estate also in Central Q'ld. Returned to work in PNG 1995 for Lihir Earthmoving to complete the Lihir Island Airstrip. Stayed on in PNG, fly in fly out, working in Seismic, Transport, Seismic again and now with Oilsearch Southern Highlands. Fond memories of Bougainville and BCL staff who often travelled to Buin for "R & R" in Buin Country Club. They came by road, boat,air and even had 2 blokes drop onto Club lawn one Sat. afternoon by parachute!! rporteou@bigpond.net.au. |
Jan Vanner a.k.a Jan Amor emailed from the Gold Coast: Hi - my name during the days of Bougainville was Jan Amor. I have just come across your website, and got such a thrill to see some familiar names.
I arrived on Bougainville in 1971 with my then husband, Barry Amor. Barry was the first of the technicians to arrive to work in the concentrator, and so consequently I was the first of the wives. Barry became best mates with David Feeney, whose name I have seen on your contacts list, and I with his then wife Helen. I commenced work in the Concentrator, four days after hitting the island, but soon became secretary to Cliff Newman who was the Public Relations Manager and I worked very closely with Brian Wendt, the photographer and John Eccles, who wrote the weekly bulletin, as well as Simon Feeley. It was so thrilling to see John's photo on one of the web pages. We left Bougainville in 1975. |
Len Selwood send this email: My name is Len Selwood. I was on the teaching staff of the Technical College at Arawa from 1973 to 1977. I built the college grandstand (with the help of students). When I arrived at the college the site was still under construction and not much more than a swamp. Another of my projects was the oval which had to be filled with soil and levelled. I was there initially as the head of mechanical studies and later on was made Deputy Principal. Paul Quadling became a good friend of mine and gave a lot of assistance to the college. Bob Duffy was on our Governing Council along with Barry Middlemiss who operated the News Agency at Arawa. Neil and Di Stewart were also good friends of ours. I used to own the Mulga Bills Restaurant and have many photos of the clientel who used to patronise our restaurant also numerous photos of the area and surrounds. I have often wondered how Bougainville is after all the strife it has suffered and would appreciate hearing news regarding my college. I think this should be sufficient as an introduction and I will eagerly your reply. Api noon long yu |
Perry Utanis emailed from Saudi Arabia: Hi, I am Perry who works as electrical eng.in this mine before. I leave the place while still in operation and have wonderful memories left behind. After some years past I heard that the mines no longer operate up to the
present time. Some of my buddies are Michael Ivanov, Jan Stuurman, Leny Milko, Kent Baker, to name a few. I hope they are all fine like me. Thanks & best regards, |
Take time to write. For in thinking you have captured your thoughts, and in writing you have written upon the tablets of your heart. |