Mr. R. D. Blandy, Obe

Retires From New Hebrides After Long Service

THE British Resident Commissioner in New Hebrides, Mr. R. D. Blandy, OBE, has gone on long leave, prior to retirement. Mr. and Mrs. Blandy are on the Morinda, due in Sydney at the end of November.

Brigadier H. J. Flaxman, who has been British Judge in the Condominium for the past year, wall take over the duties of British Resident Commissioner.

Mr. Blandy is 59, and he has been in the British Colonial Service since 1911.

He was in the Indian Police Force for 13 years, and he was chief of the Inter national Police in Tangier in 1928-29. He became Assistant Resident Commissioner in New Hebrides in 1929, and was ap pointed to the senior position when Mr.

A. G. Joy left in 1940. Mr. Blandy had a very harassing and difficult job there, close to the Solomons battlefields, during the war, and he gained a reputation as a courteous and competent officer. Both Mr. and Mrs. Blandy were held in high esteem by the European community in Vila.