Retirement of
pp. 88-89 · Read in the full issue
Another Territorian
Goes South
Retirement of "Ernie" Britte
STILL another of the old-tli officials of New Guinea M folded his tent and stoc silently away. This time it E. H. R. Britten, “Ernie” to friends up there, where he fio arrived 30 years ago for a priv;\ company and shortly afterwards 1 came a member of the ill-fai Nakanai expedition. Several mes bers of this expedition were mu:i ered by natives back in 1926 anti
think that now only Ernie Britt and Jack Thurston survive—“RT Nichols, another member of party, having died a few years i After this tragic affair, Briti joined the Expropriation Board i a period and when the estates w disposed of, he joined the Adnrj istration, taking over the duties: O/C Native Labour, Rabaul, f: that well-known identity, Hs.
Darby, who left to make a forti on the goldfields.
For years the O/C Native Labd Rabaul, has been known by native population as M:1 Darby,” and Britten fell heir to c title and relates how he was or greeted in many parts of the Te tory by that name.* His worW this department was excellent, . spite the many demands made u; his units for a variety of work.: was one of the few governm officials who, having expenei: conditions in an unofficial capar; was able to fully appreciate problems of non-officials.
His work as Court Interprets Rabaul was always carried out d
E. H. R. Britten.
Photo by C. H. Mee[?]
tially and with a well-founded wledge of both Pidgin and of the ive mind. rhen the Japs threatened the nds, it was Britten who was uted to take charge of the women children who were evacijated in Macdhui to Australia, i October, 1942, he was able to away and join the Forces and r took part in the Wau imaua show and entered Sala la with our forces, after which he for the New Britain campaign i ANGAU and remained there 1 1945.
'ith the late Charlie Bates, •fax-Ross and others he was mgst those who gave new life hose who had been interned for ang in the Ramale Valley, near aul. i June, 1946, he was discharged i AUGAU and took over the es of ADO, Rabaul, and, in unction with Bates, helped bring old township back into some g resembling its old format, or ear as at that time, was possible, iter, he was appointed Magis i there and in 1951 he was sferred to Lae as ADO for a )d and then as Magistrate. From he went to Wau as ADO and : again to Lae as Magistrate. all, a variety of jobs, all well Drmed, backed by his thorough vledge of the Territory, and ed by a pleasing personality.
Both he and his wife made a host of friends who will sadly miss them.
The Brittens have retired to their home in Caulfield, Victoria. —
Gordon Thomas.
* A Pidgin word “didimans”, meaning gardener, or in pre-war Rabaul anyone connected with the Botanical Gardens, is believed to have originated in the same way—that is, that the original holder of the job, probably a German, had a name that sounded like that. Has Mr. Gordon Thomas or any other old-time resident anything to say about this?
fl Father Edward A. Tremblay, SM, of Haverhill, Mass., USA, who spent more than 30 years of his life in the mission field in Tonga, has written another book of remin iscences. In true American style, he has sought a title likely to tickle the ears of the groundlings—it is Grins and Chuckles in the Land of Upside Dovm. Despite his long years of arduous service, Father Tremblay never lost his sense of humour, and his new book should be well worth reading. His Order benefited much from the sales of his first book.