Officer Problem

The Ng Riots

With The Pir

• The cause of the Pacific Islands Regiment’s lost week-end in De cember, during which so-called "well trained” native troops rioted in Port Moresby streets and later stormed into and broke up a court sitting, can now apparently be summed up in just two words — "officer trouble”.

THE Australian Army is now re viewing the system under which it has been sending officers to the P-NG native regiment, for criticism it has got from every side has pointed to this as the grave PIR weakness.

At present, Australian officers are sent to New Guinea for two-year terms. But because of the officer shortage or resignations they do not always remain their full period.

In any case, the officers are usually comparatively inexperienced at handling men, and certainly native troops, and in addition they do not live with the troops.

Most of them, with wives and families, live in rented Army houses at Murray Barracks, some miles from Taurama where the native troops are housed. Some junior officers only may stay at the Taurama mess.

Been Working Up

The December trouble has prob ably been working up for some time.

Some PIR troops have played up before, to a less serious extent, but as the events occurred within their barracks they were given no publicity.

In fact, with the latest trouble, the Army has been most un operative in accepting advice, even from the Administration, which naturally has an interest in what goes on in its own territory.

The PlR’s attitude seems to be that the matter is the Army’s busi ness, and nobody else’s. As a result, relations between the PIR and the Administration are at the moment strained, and between the PIR and civilian population they are at an all-time low.

Many P-NG people most experi enced with natives say the healthiest way out of the trouble is for the PIR to discharge all its present

troops, and commence training afresh.

Interest of Former Commander

Keen interest in the causes of the recent troubles has been expressed by Colonel H. T. Allan, OBE, who had command of the first Pacific Islands Regiment in New Guinea at the conclusion of World War 11.

Colonel Allan told PIM that he probably would visit New Guinea in March and he hoped to have a chance of studying the causes of the unrest among these servicemen.

He thinks it may be due in part to the inexperience of young officers.

“I feel that in New Guinea a system is wanted akin to that of the old Indian Army, where officers served their cadetship, learned the language and spent the whole of their service with their Indian troops”, said Colonel Allan.

The Colonel said that at the end of the last war he had a revolt in the Third New Guinea Infantry Battalion in Rabaul, and it could have been much more serious than the one in Moresby. “But,” he said, “I had with me experienced New Guinea officers like Norman Neal, Sepik Robbie, Lee Ashton, Jack Mullaby, Don Barrett, Harry Read, Murchison and others. They under stood the natives and the causes of the trouble, and the revolt soon sub sided”.

In Sydney, in January, Captain Frank Hoeter of the PNGVR, sug gested, independently, that the PIR should consider adopting the train ing system of the old British Ghurka Regiment, which would mean that Duntroon graduates would be sent to the PIR on a permanent post ing.