All Suffer For The Sins Of The Few

Honiara Navy "Riots"

• A resident of the Solomons springs to the defence of the Royal Navy (whose “Cook,” has been doing a survey job in the Solomons), following some newspaper publicity about rioting in Honiara. A story of the riot appeared in one Sydney paper; it may have appeared in other Australian publications, as well.

THE person responsible for the re port of the “rioting” of Royal Navy sailors in Honiara, that appeared in an Australian Sunday newspaper and was mentioned in July PIM, (p, 133) has seen fit to say what residents of Honiara are alleged to think, so I feel justified in objecting.

Because of the bad behaviour of only a couple of unruly types, the impression has been spread abroad that the whole ship’s company from HMS Cook rioted.

If the report were true it seems strange that on HMS Cook’s last visit (3-7 July), more ratings should have come ashore than on all previous visits put together.

I had a number of ratings to meals at various times. They were as fine a bunch of young men as I have met in any service.

I was impressed by the company of Cook, which is a happy ship, and has done an extremely useful job in the Solomons during the past three months. Of course, there is the occasional larrikin among them, but surely that is to be expected.

It is interesting to know the story of the “rioting” as told me by some oi my friends who saw it. The hcencee of the Mendana Hotel cer tainly had a difficult time of it on the “first night”. But there are two sides to every picture: the Sunday newspaper article did not say that the European who suffered a fractured skull was subsequently fined for assaulting the friend of the sailor who hit him. But at no time on any visit were any sailors wielding broken bottles at that hotel.

One man, one Bottle The true story of the ONE man who held ONE broken bottle ONCE, comes from the Kwong Chong Hotel; he had a bad record for mak ing trouble when under the influence, and when the ship’s piquet went in to get him he retired to the kitchen and, with a broken bottle, threatened the piquet commander.

The newspaper article did not re peat that the Naval authorities had him promptly flown out to a de tention camp.

As regards the local police “run ning away”, it should be fairly said that the two policemen who were first on the scene arrived without their batons, expecting no more than the usual drunk to be asked to leave the hotel.

Instead, they found a drunken saiior brandishing a chair with wmch he straightway assaulted one oi the constables. In the circum

stances they awaited reinforcements, which soon arrived.

In fairness it should also be said that the police considered the sailors as visitors and were generously disposed towards them. In the Kwong Chong Hotel one sailor, under the weather, did grab hold of a small Solomon Islander policeman

and call him a “black so-and-so”, whereupon the constable without hesitation hauled off with a beautiful right hook that stopped the fight.

There’s the other side to the story for you.

As for the native population being demoralised by the sight of scrap ping, I should like to say that Solomon Islanders are realists enough to know that we Europeans have good and bad like themselves.

They are extremely quick and good judges of character, and unlikely to be bamboozled by the veneers of civilisation.

I am, etc.,

J. C. Grover.

Honiara, BSIP, July 14, 1958.