A map of the Arawa Town Centre

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This should bring back a few memories!

 

The most beautiful waterfrontproperty on the South Coastis for sale

 

 

Absolute waterfrontage - no public access! Enjoy sailing, swimming, and fishing at your doorstep! The sense of peace and tranquillity is absolute: no traffic, no noise, no "next-door" neighbours, and never to be built out! Go to

 

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Sepik Blu Longpela Muruk

David Wall, a former resident of the East Sepik Province, has written a novel which is available as an e-book.

"Like the surrounding villages, the patrol post of Dreikikir was perched on a ridge, amidst dense tropical jungle. Human habitation in the area was marked by houses, gardens and tall coconut palms. Smoke rose from cooking fires in the settlements and the sounds of insects and birds filled the air. Communication was maintained in the time-honoured fashion by wooden drums. The sounds of the garamut drums were heard conveying messages beaten out on them. One might love or hate New Guinea but there was no denying its pulsating vitality. The jungle was a celebration of nature. The Melanesians in their exuberance and energy flamboyantly acclaimed their lives. The expatriates in the country, whether they knew it or not, were privileged to have the chance to live amongst the New Guineans."

So begins the story. To read the whole book, obtain a copy by going to www.deberigny.wordpress.com or emailing David Wall at mahal362000[AT]yahoo.com.au

A hard copy is available for $30
Email: mahal362000@yahoo.com.au
Address: 152 Wilson St, Newtown 2042, NSW
Phone: 02 95505053

You can take the man out of Bougainville, but you can't take Bougainville out of the man

As creator of the Bougainville website and this blog, I am not surprised just how deep the memories are for those who spent any time on Bougainville as I myself think back to my time there and in other parts of New Guinea as the most formative and the most enjoyable years of my life.

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.

Read the rest of the story [here]

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.

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.

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
Peter Lovell
England
peter.lovell.tasol@gmail.com.

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.

Werner Seifert emailed from Germany:

Hallo over there,
Glad to see your internet site about Bougainville Island.We have never met pesonally I believe,however it could be possible.Even if my Englisch has become a bit rusty I will not miss the chance to write this email and may be to add a little bit to your collection of Bougainvilles expats.To my person:" In 1976 I started with Blackwood Hodge in Arawa .It wasn`t my kind of job so I applied at BCL (John Davidson) for the position of an electrician.The first 5 weeks in Bougainville we had been living in the Kieta Hotel. After in Toniva and last but not least in Arawa I believe it was section 6 (My next door neigbour was Moses Havini) and Kurt Schuck. After returning to Perth with my family I traveled back to Bougainville Island and John Hunt (?) picked me up at the airport to deliver me to Kawerong house. After 4 week my family followed and we spend some time in leave houses on Married Hill. We moved up the road into a duplex right up the valley beside the entry to the bush track wich led up to the old goldmine to Arawa. I had been working in the pit workshop electrical department (Klaus Ambrose, John McLoud, Ian McNeil).After the tunnel project started I acted as the permanent tunnel electrician. Jim Logan-Tony Pinzger-Karl Meyer-E. Comerfort-Alf Bird-Wally ha,ha (Kaka),Ross Curtis, Tony Brown,Les Withcomb. Surveyor Heinz Haverkamp and his offsider and assistent Francis Ona.Francis Ona's uncle Tony Biramari had been my assistent together with Dennis Ball. Also a number of in my memory nameless Poms. After about 1,5 years I decided to change to the crusher electrical department. We left Bougainville Island in Oct.1981. When I had not been working for BCL I spent most of my time scuba diving and fishing, the ocassional booze-up of course was inevitable. We returned to Germany and after a number of years of some kind of homesickness for Bougainville we are kind of happy enough to live our life in satisfaction. In 1988 Oct. and Mov. I spent 5 weeks in Bougainville together with my daughter Susan and a couple of friends. There we visited Tony Biramari who had been living in a village near the tunnel side.He mentioned something about a pending revolution but I thougt it was a kind of a joke. After we returned to Germany we heard about the trouble in Bougo. and the promised Christmascard to Tony Biramari has most likley never arrived. After thinking about it I started writing a story with the titel "The mine of satan" it has alot of diving scenery but also common expat livestyle an not unerotic".Since nobody over here is interested in such stories (It`s written in German) i consider to translate it into Englisch) I never finished it yet but its ready in my mind.Should you Peter show any interest in the story I would translate a part of it to give you an idea what it is like and send a reading sample via email.It is very exiting because it contains a secrete wich if it was known to scuba divers all over the world would attract the diving comunity all over the world.Ok so much for now I am looking forward to hear from you. Have a good time and all the best in 2007 for you and family.
Regards Werner Seifert
waseifert[AT]web.de

Graeme Hore emailed from Victoria:

Hi Peter
I was given a link to your site and found that it revived memories of the place. I used to work for Minenco, a CRA Group engineering company that were involved with Concentrator expansions. I worked on No.9 to 15 mills and associated Crushing, Screening and Fine Ore Storage and Flotation facilities. I went up there first in 1974 as a young 23 year old draftsman, which turned out to be a life changing experience. Bougainville projects comprised a large piece of experience that I still draw on today. I loved the frontier lifestyle and rugged country. Most opportunities we took off to places like Buin, Buka and the Mortlock islands. I recall we used to go to camp 1 to see a movie in a large converted warehouse, and if it rained you couldn’t hear much. Then it was a race back to Panguna afterwards. We used to go to stay at Loloho camp in the recreation part of the camp on a Saturday afternoon and stay until Sunday, but spend sometime at the Coastal club and see a movie or one at the camp under a tin roof. I also recall a Chinese resteraunt at Kobuan Bay, the Davara Hotel at Kieta, Arovo Island and many places that we frequented. Buin was also a great place to visit for a weekend. Roger Porteous ran a guest house/trade store there and there was good fishing and the country club you could visit. Kangu beach and Kahili mission were also worth a visit if you were into WW2 left overs. I never did see Yamamoto’s plane, but there were two shot down and the one people were taken to was not the one that carried him. Going there and returning mean’t dropping in on Kiwi’s roadside camp to say gidday and share a cold beer. He and his crew were constantly looking after the Buin road from the mine. My house is scattered with Bougainville memorabilia from Buka Baskets to a coconut stripping stool. I would love to catch up with nationals I worked with in the later part of my stays there, but they could be anywhere now. Some people I worked there with, some were long termers and others were locals . Paul Pearcey, Bob Dean, Collin Street, Tony Pearce, John Bobbermien, Barney Clifford, John Siwani (from Buka), Paul Bakoi (from Buin), Bob Ginnigin (Manus or Karkar? Island), Usibius Omi (from Buin), (the late) John Jones and (the late) Frank Charlie from B60 Concentrator Engineering office. I often wonder where are they now.
I have many slides taken over the years there and even some super-8 movie that I occasionally show the kids, but I read of Susan Coyle’s recent visit and have been contemplating doing the same thing. I will keep an eye on your website for updates. Kind regards
Graeme Hore
Lara. Victoria.
Phone: (03) 5282 1866
graeme.hore[AT]bigpond.com