A Long, Long Trail To Play Two Anthems
p. 155 · Read in the full issue
[RTY-EIGHT members of the fcoyal P-NG Constabulary Band eft Sydney aboard the mber Malaita on their way to the Territory, and if their ession of Australia’s manners lot what we might have hoped, joys themselves are in no way ame. r photograph shows some of before the Malaita sailed. 1 by bandmaster, Inspector i Crawley, MBE, the band to Australia to play and give inarching display at the ourne Olympics, ey were scheduled to take part le opening ceremony, wever, the ship was delayed ling Moresby on the trip south consequently the band arrived elbourne three days after the ss had begun. their spot on the programme changed to the closing day, about 20 minutes before they due to appear, officials told they would not be wanted. )u should have seen the looks le boys’ faces when they were 1 Inspector Crawley said later.
V were terribly disappointed.” stralian newspapers in the were sympathetic; they ibed the boys as “the tten bandsmen.”
However, things were not as black as they could have been. The boys did get to play—two anthems, the Russian and Swedish, five days after they arrived in Melbourne!
And on the final day of the Games they played to amuse the crowd in the Snowden and Treasury Gardens, Inspector Crawley blamed the Organising Committee for the mix up on closing day. An official was quoted as gabbling something, in typical official jargon, about “looking into the matter.”
But Inspector was quick to P ralse the Olympic Civic Com ™ittee for the way it looked after Melbourne during the stay in “bandsmen, ranging in age from 12 to 31 years. were shown
nonular'tourlst^not? 01^ th 6
P°P ular tourist spots.
During the Games they were billeted at the Police Recruiting Depot in Melbourne.
But for all that, the remarks of 28-year-old Sergeant-Major Lego Pala probably summed up the feelings of the whole band: “Yes, we are unhappy at our treatment ... we came a long way to do 10 minutes marching work, and it was not wanted.”
Some of the bandsmen on board "Malaita" in Sydney in December.