In the early 2000s, Brian Darcey wrote a book, "Bougainville Blue", which is about Bougainville and named after its spectacularly beautiful butterfly but also about a ‘blue’ which is Australian slang for a fight. It’s about the beauty of Bougainville and its flora and fauna. And it's about the destruction of Bougainville.
Brian and his family lived in Papua New Guinea for twenty-five years, from 1955 to 1980. He was the original Rabaul agent for CRA Exploration when he operated B.F.DARCEY & COMPANY PTY LTD at Rabaul until 1965, then at Toniva on Bougainville Island. They were cocoa and trochus shell exporters, but also had a store at Toniva selling artifacts, jewellery, clothing etc.
"Bougainville Blue" is a work of fiction but it also tells the reader about the Panguna Mine which was closed by a ragtag militia bent on reclaiming their land. Brian saw the Bougainville Revolutionary Army come into being. He observed the rise and fall of Australian rule in Bougainville. He watched the ‘blue’ take place. Listen to an interview Brian gave in 2008: click here or here.
"Bougainville Blue" is still available by mail order from Diane Andrews, email dianepithie@gmail.com, for $28, including postage.
