Hi Peter, my name is Steve Plater and I landed on Bougainville on April Fools day 1968 as a graduate Civil Engineer and left approximately two years later soon after the decision to mine was made. I was transferred to Parrabadoo in WA. Some of the names from that period include Col Bishop, Norm Brice, Charles Stover, Graeme McKenzie (who were my bosses at various times), Peter Symons, Bill Guthrie (who lives in Rockhampton), Ken McDonald.
There were certainly many characters in the camp in those days. The American Resident Engineer (name excapes me) who reportedly drank a bottle of Gin every night; unfortunately it caught up with him and he had a fatal heart attack. There were the tree clearing head honcho with a silver hard hat and a matching silver front tooth.
We had some great times including the construction of a 14-foot plywood boat which we built at Panguna and transported to Kobuan for use on the weekends to ski and fish. The day we loaded it on to an Isuzu for the coast was a big occasion.
It has been great to read the stories on the site but for me the majority seem to be from those who arrived after my departure. It will be good if more of the pre-1970 pioneers discover this excellent site.
Cheers Steve Plater
splater@bigpond.com.
