Guinea

Return To New

By the Rev. M. A. Warren , in the “ABM Review

r travel through New Guinea at any time is a rich experience, but under war conditions it becomes a strange and unimaginable mixture of the normal and the fantastic. One finds oneself a civilian moving about amongst an Army, depending on the Army for food, shelter and transport, upon the Army canteens for soap and toothpaste, and upon the Army’s convenience for every move, and, finally, for a passage home.

Travel under such conditions involves the use of Army vehicles—jeeps, trucks, four-wheelers and six- and 10-wheelers— and Navy and Army launches. Frail some of them look, but with enormous power for special tasks which require the utmost speed.

But dependence on the transport of others has grave disadvantages. One cannot plan for the best use of one’s time, but is obliged to sit by and wait and lose important hours and days.

WITH four missionaries — Misses Som erville, Caswell, Inman and Devitt —returning to their work in New Guinea, I left Sydney on August 21 in

a troopship.

We called at northern ports en route, picking 'up large detachments of troops for service in the fighting zones. Our destination was Milne Bay, which we reached some days later and disembarked.

The days at sea were full of interest despite some unpleasant experiences, but the Great Barrier Reef was full of beauty and the Coral Sea not too rough. It was of great interest to us all to see the high peaks of New Guinea a&ain. We were thrilled when we entered the China Strait and recognised landmarks which we knew so well —Samarai, Kwato, Rogeia, Sariba, all with their special contours and colours.

Milne Bay, as had been the case since the New Guinea campaign began, was alive with shipping, and, whereas in the old days a ship each month was about the average, to-day it is seldom possible to see less than half a dozen vessels com ing and going, and many tied up to the busy wharves.

Milne Bay was our first glimpse of the transformation caused by the war. Instead ot the few native villages, a canoe drift ing lazily along, and an occasional red loofed house on a plantation, we discov ered war installations of enormous mag nitude extending over many miles of the coastline along the bight of the bay. At night the powerful electric lights make the scene resemble Port Melbourne rather than the New Guinea we used to know.

As we approached we saw some of the ravages of war—flotsam and jetsam in great abundance washed up by the tide landing barges wrecked as they drove ashore; fuel drums rusted and useless on the beaches, and others stacked on shore KJ ga ? °r the thousands of vehicSel use ; Vehicles, of course, do not oper ate without roads, and it was amazing to see the roads winding in all direc tions, all busy with Army traffic.

AT Milne Bay we were to transfer to L S i£ a \ ves i el which would take us to the headquarters of the Mission at Dogura. For two days we were given hospitality by ANGAU, and then com” menced the 80-mile journey on a small launch to Dogura. This journey Tas accomnhshed in two stages. The first night we were given welcome hospitality

at East Cape, where the Rev. Mr. Wil liams is Superintendent of the Methodist Mission. He had recently returned, and was busy getting his station into working prder again. We left in the early morn ing on the last stage along the north east coast of New Guinea. Here Army installations were left behind for a time, the south-eastern portion of the diocese bein?? now safe, and free of troops. In the early afternoon we sighted Taupota, and Miss Inman did her best to attract attention as we drew near. The waving of handkerchiefs made it clear to the Papuans that friends were on the strange vessel, and an throng gathered on the beach to receive us.