New Resident

Commissioner for BSI

IT is announced from London that Mr.

Owen Cyril Noel, District Officer, Uganda, has been appointed Resident Commissioner, British Solomon Islands Protectorate, in succession to Lieut.- Colonel W. S. Marchant, CMG, OBE. Mr.

Noel, who is 45 years of age, was on mili tary service from 1917 till 1924, and was appointed a cadet in Uganda in 1925. He became an Assistant District Officer in 1927 and a District Officer in 1937.

Lieutenant-Colonel Marchant has been granted six months’ vacation leave from June 16, 1943, and his next post has not yet been announced.

It will be remembered that this RC re fused to leave the Protectorate when the civil evacuation occurred on the Jap in vasion at the beginning of 1942, and that, when the occupation of Tulagi by the Japanese seemed probable, he and his officers went to other localities in the Group and carried on as best they could from improvised headquarters. Details of the Resident Commissioner’s activities during the period before the reoccupation of the Tulagi Zone by the Americans have not yet been revealed; but it may be noted that he was awarded the CMG for his services; and it is presumed that he has received the promotion earned by his ability, his courage and his fine person ality.