Mandoliana Island

Massacre in 1880 on Mandoliana Island Names of Murdered Blue jackets

IN the June issue of the “Pacific Islands Monthly,” we published an article en titled “How Kalekona Got His Head,” describing how an officer and several ratings from the British warship “Sand fly” were massacred on Mandoliana Is land, B.S.I., in 1880. This interesting article had been published from material supplied by Mr. M. Harper, an ex-Aus tralian Navy man, who is now a trader on Mandoliana Island.

At considerable trouble, Mr. Harper had verified the details of the murder and eventually identified the exact spot where the officer and his men died. Mr. Harper was desirous of marking the bluejackets’ graves on the island, and offered to place over the burial ground a concrete slab inscribed with a brief outline of the tra

gedy and the victims’ names, if he could correctly ascertain them.

After making inquiries from the Bri tish Admiralty regarding the incident, the “Pacific Islands Monthly” received the following particulars from the Official Secretary, who asked us to convey same to Mr. Harper: “The names of the officers and ratings, about whom you were inquiring, are: Lieutenant James St. C. Bower, Leading Seaman Benjamin Venton, Alfred Cam, A.B., John O’Neill, A.B., William Patterson, A.B., and Robert Buckle, A.B.

“The latter rating was shot by natives during the subsequent search by Acting- Lieutenant E. Bradford and a party from H.M.S. Sandfly, who discovered the de capitated bodies of Lieutenant Bower, Leading Seaman Venton, Able Seaman Patterson, and a fourth, supposed to be Able Seaman Cam, Those bodies were buried on the island. The body of the other rating was never found, but was believed to have drifted out to sea, as he was bathing when shot. It is not known where Able Seaman Buckle was buried.

“The only survivor of the party who had been working with Lieutenant Bower was Robert Savage, A.B.”