Commended
p. 26 · Read in the full issue
Manus Islanders Commended For Heroic Rescue
THREE Manus Islanders were presented with Certificates of Merit of the Royal Humane Society by the District Commis sioner (Mr. W. M. English) at Lorengau, the administrative head quarters of the Admiralty Group, in August.
The awards were made for an act of outstanding courage and de votion.
The recipients were Siloa Awat, of Patuam, Petrus Polongo, of Ram butso, and Paulus Salieau, of Rambutso.
When a seagoing canoe containing 17 persons capsized in a gale and mountainous seas, Petrus, aged 20, and Paulus, aged 16, swam towards Rambutso for help. After a desper ate struggle, they landed at Patuam plantation and found the foreman, Siloa.
At great risk to himself, Siloa took the other two in a 16-ft power dinghy and, in two hazardous journeys, rescued all the people clinging to the overturned canoe.