Category: Kiaps and Patrols

Like all good stories, this one starts “long, long ago and far, far away” The great bird island to the North of Australia dozed in the tropic seas for millennia until, in the mid-1840s,...

I was saddened to read of Don Vincin’s death in the March 2011 edition of Una Voce. The mention in his obituary of the Maramuni area stirred memories of one of the most satisfying...

I was interested to read the articles in the latest Una Voce regarding the role of kiaps in pre-independence Papua New Guinea. I was especially interested in the statement that Cadet Patrol Officers were...

PNG’s location on the Pacific Ocean’s Ring of Fire was given bad press with the death and destruction at many locations, including pre and post war Rabaul, Mt Lamington and Manum and Kairiru Island....

Being Queensland born, when I read a Government advertisement for Patrol Officers in PNG, in the Hobart Mercury newspaper (and it was a cold winter in Hobart), I didn’t hesitate to reply. Another incentive...

A good doctor is one who can diagnose an illness where the person does not drink or smoke, and is not overweight. In August 1952, Jack Baker and I were on patrol in the...

One of the world police forces’ simplest yet effective form of handcuffs was in use in Papua New Guinea for over half a century. This was about a metre of ordinary brass chain such...

Being Queensland born, I thought I could do with some tropical warmth when I read the advertisement in the Hobart Mercury. It was a cold winter’s day and the ad was for Patrol Officers...

With thanks to Ross Wilkinson, Paul Oates and the many people who have contributed to this Honour Roll. Died in the service of Australia: 1878 November 27 – William Bairstow Ingham, Government Agent for...

Reading Paul Oates’ article on Communications rekindled memories of Christmas, 1968. I was in Kieta, Bougainville. After many months in the bush (incidentally equipped with an A510 radio), escorting CRA geologists out of Panguna...

Paul Ryan’s most interesting account of his tours of duty in the Jimi Valley of the Western Highlands District in 1968 (click here) brings to my mind the time I was required to carry...

Speech by Paul Oates at the National Archives of Australia Kiap History day, 20 November 2010 Senator Lundy, Maj. Gen Jeffery, High Commissioner Lepani, Director and staff of the National Archives, fellow former kiaps,...

In 1956 and 1957, I was posted to Minj in the Wahgi Valley of the Western Highhlands as a Patrol Officer. It was during this time that Barry Griffin was sent to establish a...

National Archives of Australia, 20 November 2010 More than 2000 Australians served as patrol officers (Kiaps) in Papua New Guinea before the nation’s independence in 1975. Ex-Kiaps and others with an interest in Papua...

1953: Auster on take-off crashed into Vanimo Harbour. The pilot was killed and passengers District Commissioner Ian Skinner and Assistant District Officer George Wearne were rescued from the submerged aircraft. 1955: Dragon on take-off...