ougainville Copper Project
| Are mirrored in our lives today. |
| Comments received and Names mentioned: Many more COMMENTS on the next page John Ainsworth # Kim Barnsley # Peter Bowman # Patricia Collins # Colin Cowell # Anja Crute # Brian Darcey # Mike Edwards # Ken Franklin # Pat Gibson # Roy Goldsworthy # Ricky Hall # Jack Hawkins and Bruce Hawkins # Graeme Hore # Rosanna Jaureguiberry # Al Kauslick # Lizzie Kila # Andrew Liversidge # Peter Lovell # Warren Parsons # Roger Porteous # Sue Robinson # Graham Rodwell # Graham Rodwell ... another one # Werner Seifert # Len Selwood # Peter Tuckerman # Perry Utanis # Jan Amor a.k.a. Jan Vanner # Many more COMMENTS on the next page |
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Space for YOUR comments:
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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:
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.
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Lizzie Kila sent this email:
Hi everyone, my name is Lizzie Kila. |
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Brian Darcey emailed this from Cairns:
Dear Peter, |
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Bruce Hawkins emailed this from Narrabri:
Peter, |
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John Ainsworth emailed from Brisbane :
G’day won talk. |
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Andrew Liversidge emailed this from Brisbane
Hi Peter, |
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Colin Cowell emailed this from Canberra:
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Ken Franklin emailed this from Brisbane:
Hi Peter, |
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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
Pangoona 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 |
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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 |
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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 use 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 you informative writing and dream of the beautiful islands I once
had the opportunity to visit.
Thank you |
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Anja Crute emailed from Western Australia:
Hi all, |
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Peter Tuckerman emailed:
Good morning, |
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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; |
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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 |
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Graham (Blue) Rodwell emailed from Western Australia:
Hi Peter, |
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Mike Edwards emailed:
G’day, |
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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. |
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Roy Goldsworthy a.k.a. "Goldfinger" emailed from Kuala Lumpur:
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Graeme Hore emailed from Victoria:
Hi Peter |
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Werner Seifert emailed from Germany:
Hallo over there, |
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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. |
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| 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. |
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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 |
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| 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. |
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| 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. |
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| 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. |
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| Len Selwood send this email: |
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| 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, |
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| Take time to write. For in thinking you have captured your thoughts, and in writing you have written upon the tablets of your heart. |
My trip to Samoa My trip to Thursday Island An Island to Oneself Pigeon Island Your holiday destination in Australia
Hi Pete 
Kessa is something else as I was partners with Alex Hopper in 1960 when we bought Kessa from Elma Goode and my daughter Josephine was conceived there.
Our accountant on Kessa was Green and Company with the one armed bandit in charge.
I was employed by Choicel Plantations Ltd and remember directing the search for the elusive copper to the little gold mine at the head of the Red River where we
knew there was a mineral deposit but were too bust making copra and cocoa to worry about things like that. I later was on the mainland in the highlands and
left there in 1976 to return to Australia.
Hi Pete, a bit of a surprise to see the boug copper site and even myself pictured.
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