Six Men On

A Launch

How They Escaped From the Sepik to Pt. Moresby

rIS is the plain story of “Nifty’

Nixon, an Australian gold-prospec tor from the Upper Sepik River, New Guinea, who has arrived in Austra lia. , With five others, on a 30-ft. launch, navigating by guess and by God, they somehow dodged the patrolling Japs, and crept from the mouth of the Sepik right around the coasts of New Guinea and Papua, to Port Moresby.

Tribute must be paid to the launch -30 ft. long, 10 ft. beam, equipped with a 10 h.p. Frisco Standard motor-engme that was no less than 27 years old. She once was a cabin cruiser, well-known in Sydney Harbour. Her maximum speed was five miles per hour—but the engine kept on going. Six men, whom it prob ably saved from the Japs, saluted it in sound Australian beer before they said farewell to it in Port Moresby.

It was decided, late in January, to evacuate all Europeans from the Wewak area, and instructions were given that the miners along the Sepik should con centrate at Yimas, 300 miles up the Sepik. On January 25, a party consist ing of Messrs. Ruse, Shaw. Scannell, Simcocks, Power, Spencer, Malicki and Haynes left Wewak for the Sepik on a small vessel. They entered the great river at daybreak, and then proceeded to Marienberg, Angoram, Kambrindo, Tum bungu, mouth of Karawari, Masamei, and Yimas, where they arrived on February 1.

Within the next few days, Messrs. V.

R. Nixon (“Nifty”), Harold Hindwood, Taylor, Cook, Lang, and Mason came in from the Avatip goldfield, and Messrs.

Atkinson, Cecil, Moody, Petterson, White and Roy MacGregor from other places.

Hindwood and Mason left for Awim, up river, to build another camp, but were driven back by floods.

A little later, Messrs. Thurston, Keogh, Gallin, Broadbent, McConnell, and Hun ter-Kirke came in to Yimas from down river and Marui; and, on February 13, Messrs. Simcocks, Shaw, Hunter-Kirke, Cook. Keogh and Macgregor set off for Angoram to arrange transport. Two days later, Messrs. Rouse. Nixon, Scan nell, Power, Spencer, Malicki and Haynes took a chance of getting down to Angoram, where they arrived on Feb ruary 17.

It is noted in “Nifty” Nixon’s diary that additional men who had gathered at Angoram included Charles Reason, Tex Archer, Johnny Young, Len Bridger, Len Odges, Roy Smith, Dr. Schroeder, Father Luttner, Ben Hall, and Jack West.

There seemed to be a good deal of confusion regarding transport, and urgent messages were being sent to the DO. The waiting men were disturbed to learn that all suitable vessels from the Wewak area were being sent at once to Madang—far to the eastwards—instead of to the Sepik for the evacuation.

Messrs. Shaw, Cook, Hunter-Kirke and Keogh went down-stream with Johnny Young to catch a boat to Madang.

Voyage Commences

pINALLY, on February 19, Nixon and r^c. Co ™F^ n^ s . made arrange ments with Charlie Reason to set away on the latter’s 30-fee? launlh.

They packed that night and they got away from Angoram at dawn next morn ing. By February 22, they had got down to Simbini, near the mouth of the Sepik, and there they waited a day for Mr.

Geoff. Luff. On February 24 they set off on their remarkable voyage. The party now comprised:— Charles Reason, plantation manager, New Guinea Estates.

C. M. Rouse, planter, from Nubia, Sepik River.

Tom Spencer, plantation manager for Burns, Philp and Co„ Boram.

E. W. Haynes, ground engineer for Parer’s Airways, Wewak.

Geoff. Luff, planter, Sepik River.

Victor R. Nixon, miner, Upper Sepik.

On the 25th, they were at Sek (near Madang), and next day they were at Erimahaven, where they met Roy Mac gregor, Roy Hart and A. Anthony, aboard another vessel. The next day, in this place, they met Father Glover, Nor man Johnson and Karl Nagy, who had come down from the Ramu to remove a plane from the mission-station at Sek.

Across Huon Gulf

BY March 3, the little launch was round the corner of New Guinea mainland, and heading southwards towards Finschhafen.

This day, at Busaga, they met “Blue”

Harris and seven Australian soldiers who had somehow escaped from the Japs in New Britain and crossed to Finschhafen.

These lads were in a pretty bad way, from lack of food. They learned, for the first time, from the experienced men on the launch, that taro is a good vege table food!

They could not be accommodated on the launch, so they were left at Finsch hafen —and the Japanese occupied the place three days later. The fate of the soldiers is unknown.

Hurry—hurry—was the motto on the launch, and how wise it was! As it proved, the Japs were only two days behind them. If they had lingered, they would have been caught in Huon Gulf.

At 9 p.m., they left Busaga, and ran straight across Huon Gulf, leaving Lae and Salamaua, far up the gulf, on their right; and by noon of the following day they were safely in the little port of Morobe, south-east of Salamaua.

Japanese planes and patrol vessels were all'about, preparing for their land ing at Salamaua and Lae, which took place on March 8.

The voyagers did not waste time. On the afternoon and night of March 4 they slept and ate in Morobe, and at dawn on March 5 they were on their way.

They looked in at the Mambare River Mission, and saw the Rev. S. M. R. Gill there; but that night they anchored in Yoga. On March 6 they w r ere in Buna, where they met Mr. Champion, ARM, Mr. Duffield (captain of the mission schooner), and others. By March 9 they were at Tuff (Cape Nelson) where they met another ARM, Mr. Anderson, and next day they reached the Mukawa Mis sion, where they were hospitably received by Rev. Clark, Miss Kent and Mac Rich.

“We had good kaikai and a good bath,” remarks the diary.

In Ruined Samarai

NEXT_ day, March 11, they got to the Dogura Mission, where Bishop New ton, Rev. Thompson and Dr. White house treated them well. But they pushed on again that night, and by noon they were in ruined Samarai.

They reported that all the business portion of Samarai —stores, hotels, main street buildings generally had been smashed by Japanese bombs; but most

of the residences, further around the island, and on the hill, were undamaged.

There was not a soul on the island—that which not long ago was a busy little commercial ana shipping centre, and one oi the most beautiful places in me South Seas, was now a ghost town. Tne launch anchored off Duncan Campbell’s place, and they met Keith Gnbben and two others there.

The next day they left at daybreak— but had to return to Samarai owmg to bad weather. Then they noticed that the date was Friday, the 13th!

The remainder of the run westwards was uneventful—Fyfe Bay—Mogubu— Aoau—Otamato—Rigo—and the long desired Port Moresby at 5 p.m. on March 19.

Within a few days, the six men were on their way to Australia.

Conditions On The Launch

mHE launch was not dependant entirely X on the engine—there was a small mainsail and jib, which were used whenever possible. But the engine was the mainstay; and it was the especial care of Mr. Haynes. He studied it, lived with it, nursed it—and it brought them through. Once or twice, on long runs, it faltered —but always Haynes got it back to health again, and it did its job nobly.

Fuel was a problem, of course—but they picked up petrol wherever they could find it—and they had quite a quan tity aboard when they reached Port Moresby. They were prepared to go across the Gulf of Papua to Cape York and down the Australian coast to civili sation—but it was not necessary.

There was a four-bunk cabin on the launch, but it was filled with supplies, and the luggage of the escaping men.

They slept in the cockpit, and on the top of the launch. They nearly always contrived to find an anchorage for the night, and slept quietly, and they always were off with the first streak of dawn.

They were handicapped by lack of a chart.

“How about food supplies?” we asked “Nifty”.

“We had plenty of tinned stuff,” he said. “We were never hungry.”

“Cooking?” we asked.

“Nifty” wriggled uncomfortably. “We had a little galley,” he said. “Luff was cook. Good chap, Geoff. He’d be a good cook, too, in time. We usually had breakfast about 4 p.m. We got awful sick of tinned tack. We always had a line out, and we got a lot of fish —ate so much damned fish that we began to look like it.”

Although packed together under mis erable conditions, the six men spent four weeks together without a quarrel—with out even one angry word.

On the day they were anchored in Erimahaven, they saw the Japanese planes, far away, bombing Madang; but otherwise they did not sight the enemy.

Enemy planes evidently were near them, on a number of occasions, but they did not hear them, owing to the noise of the engine. Later, at the anchorages, the natives told them the planes had been over.

Pilot-Officer George Beilby Evans, RAAF, son of Mr. and Mrs. Beilby Evans, formerly of Buka Passage, New Guinea, has been reported a prisoner of war in Batavia (Java). He was previously reported missing, believed prisoner of war. He lived in New Guinea for 10 years before he won a scholarship to Brisbane Grammar School, in 1932. He is a member of the staff of the Union Bank of Australia and joined the RAAF in 1939.