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BOMBS TO
BEEF, Development of Dumpu Cattle
Station, Papua New Guinea by
Barbara Jephcott
ISBN 978-1-921151-57-6, 178 pp. Printed 2007 by Community
Books Cost: AU$25 incl postage within Australia Please
contact the author at: ‘Yundah’, M/S 28, Warwick. QLD 4370
Ph: 074-613516
This self-published family history may not entice the
general reader, and – typical of its genre – lacks skilled
final editing, but it covers every kind of detail anyone
could want about the establishment and development of Dumpu
Cattle Station in Madang’s Ramu Valley after the war by
veterinarian Barbara Jephcott and her husband, the late
Bruce Jephcott. There, with its attendant challenges, they
also raised their family. Among the details of station
finances, business partners, buying and shipping cattle,
beef sales, labour management, pasture improvement and
assistance for the local smallholders, there are very many
brief and unexpected gems and insights into ‘outback’
expatriate life in those years. It’s a useful addition to
PNG’s postwar history.
Windows of New Guinea, Road to
Nationhood: West Papua Debacle by
Harley Dickinson
ISBN-13:9780646462875 Published by Harley Dickinson 2007 64
pages coloured paintings, photographs and maps A4 Soft cover
Cost: AU$30 plus $5 postage within Australia and $10 postage
overseas Available from Harley Dickinson, Box 103 PO
Bannockburn VIC 3331 Ph: 03-5281 7218
This self-published book is an impressionistic collection of
a life of eighteen years service in Papua New Guinea. 50
acrylic paintings are featured throughout the book along
with a short narrative including a little history on each.
Photographs and maps are included in the collection.
In the Epilogue, Prof Jack E Richardson AO states: ‘His
collection of acrylic paintings, illustrated in this book,
is representative of his considerable skill as an artist of
longstanding. They gather more meaning because, in a simple
expressionistic style, they capture the essential and
mystical features of the Papua New Guinea landscape…His
paintings and photographs give glimpses of life in the
communities as he saw it as early as fifty years ago.’
Tubuan and Tabernacle by Mary
Mennis
ISBN 978-0-9750346-6-8, 265 pages, A4, soft cover, photos
incl, Published by and available from Lalong Enterprises, 11
Jethro St, Aspley, QLD 4034, Phone: 07-3263 6327 or
. Cost: AU$35 plus postage of AU$5 within
Aust and AU$8 to PNG.
This year is the 125th anniversary of the New Britain
Mission and this book gives a broad picture of the mission
history from its beginning in 1882 until 2007. It is about
two priests from the Rabaul area Most Reverend Benedict
ToVarpin, CBE, and Rev Father Bernard Franke MSC CBE.
Benedict To Varpin grew up in the Tolai society with all the
traditional tribal customs including that of the Tubuan
Society, becoming a priest in 1971, Bishop of Bereina in
1980 and Archbishop of Madang in 1987. Fr Franke arrived
from Germany in 1928 when he was 26 years old and spent the
following 50 years in New Britain ministering to the Tolai,
European and Chinese communities, both on remote mission
stations and in Rabaul.
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Australia's Forgotten Frontier
by Chris Viner Smith
ISBN 978-0-646-47541-7 Printed by SOS print+media. Price
$14.95 incl p/h. Available from PO Box 394, Curtin, ACT 2605
or
In 1961, at the age of nineteen, the author joined the
Department of Native Affairs as a Cadet Patrol Officer in
the Papua and New Guinea Administration and served in
various Districts including the Gulf, Western, Northern and
Bougainville. His book, "Australia's Forgotten Frontier", is
written in an honest and unembellished style and Kiaps will
recognise many of the stories as familiar to their own
experiences. It is an anecdotal slice of history about the
responsibilities the Kiaps undertook in the 1960s. It
includes stories of situations and experiences on patrol and
serving at the PNG/ West Irian border; and interesting
stories of meetings with the many nasties inhabiting Papua
New Guinea; the reptiles and insects. In the closing chapter
the author points out his concern of the Kiaps doing the
dangerous groundwork of policing and yet, unlike uniformed
officers, they get no recognition within the PNG and
Australian police honour system.
In addition to their
limitless responsibilities, as Officers with the Department
of Native Affairs, the Kiaps were also Commissioned Officers
of the Royal Papua & New Guinea Constabulary, with the rank
of Sub Inspector; they were issued with a certified warrant
card but had no uniform or badge of office. With their loyal
indigenous police, policing was carried out until an area
was brought under control which then allowed the expatriate
uniformed police to move in and take over police duties. In
the chapter "Seeking Recognition for all Kiaps" the author
tells how he challenged the Federal Government, without
success. He wanted acknowledgement that Kiaps were different
to the expatriate regular police and that they should be
recognised for the rather amazing things they did in the
early post war years including controlling the International
border with the Indonesians and maintaining law and order in
an Australian Territory under extreme conditions; thus
assisting Papua New Guinea towards Self Government and
ultimately Independence.
In the 60s/70s, the sensitive information on border work by
the Kiaps was classified by the Administration's Division of
Intelligence and Security, so little was/is known of the
work the young Kiaps carried out and their responsibilities.
In 1964, as a twenty two year old Patrol Officer, the author
was posted to Weam, in the Western District of Papua,
situated near the Papua New Guinea/West Irian border. He
points out the variety of working situations he experienced
from being confronted by the Indonesian Army as they crossed
the Papua New Guinea border and being locked up by the
Indonesians over the border in Merauke, to visits from ASIO,
the Australian Army and Sir Paul Hasluck.
The author served in Papua
New Guinea from 1961-1971 and had the experience of a
lifetime which would be the envy of many adventurer. It is
an interesting and enjoyable book for all people to read and
the only "embellishment" is the unusual and attractive
presentation of the soft cover book and the inclusion of the
numerous and colourful and very descriptive photos.
Nancy Johnston
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