Veteran Radio

Operator

Kevin Minogue Must

rank as the most consistant user of the ether between Australia and New Guinea through the years.

IJE was born in Napier, New Zealand, and educated at the Sacred Heart College in Auckland.

In 1932 he got his first radio ticket in Wellington and made for Sydney to find a job. Owing to the De pression, the only one available was in trawlers, and there he served a rugged apprenticeship for 2\ years.

After that he graduated to inter state vessels for AWA but soon trans ferred to their station at Bita Paka near Rabaul, where he arrived in 1935. When the new station was built at Rabaul, Kevin went relieving at Kavieng for a year, followed by periods at Manus and Wewak. He spent a lot of time in Rabaul, where he took a keen interest In tennis, golf and cricket, as well as becoming a

committee-man of the New Guinea Club.

Just prior to the Jap invasion he was recalled from Rabaul to Wewak.

The civilians were evacuated after the fall of Rabaul, and one by one the AWA out-stations fell silent, Wewak being the last to close.

Kevin remained with the Adminis tration officers, as they shifted from village to village in the Sepik area, setting-up and dismantling his radio at each place and maintaining contact with HQ at Port Moresby. They returned to Wewak but were forced to close down when the Japs landed in December, 1942.

He Went Bush Kevin went bush again with the officials and a large party of Chinese, men, women and children. After a two-months’ hike via the Sepik and Ramu, and over the mountains to Bena Bena, they were flown to Port Moresby.

Here Kevin joined the AIF NG Lines of Communication, but later switched to the RANVR, to serve in the Allied Naval Communications and later in Darwin.

After the war, in 1946, he returned to New Guinea but he left again in 1950 after a period with OTC at Moresby and Lae. Kevin went back to sea. In 1955 he left to join a broad casting station, 2KA (Katoomba) for two years, but once again returned to the sea service, trading to Indonesia and Singapore.

He joined the Malaita in August, 1960, and is enjoying meeting his old friends all around the Territory of Papua and New Guinea. Kevin is married and has his home at Katoomba, in the NSW Blue Moun

tains.

Brett Milder.

A Brett Milder Profile