John Benseman R I P

John Benseman R I P

  

All,

We regret to advise of the passing of John Benseman. Our thoughts are with Connie and Malinda.

John was born in New Zealand on the 24^th February, 1946. In 1963 he was indentured as an Apprentice Motor Mechanic by Dominion Motors, later known as the New Zealand Motor Corporation. In 1969 he was employed by the Cook Islands Motor Centre on Raratonga. In 1971 he ventured to Panguna with Construction Managers, Bechtel WKE. The following year he switched to the client, initially as a Leading Hand Motor Mechanic and then, subsequent to several promotions, he was promoted into a Superintendent role. Until 1990 he reported to many of our key asset managers at the BCL and CRA operations. These include Jim Adomoli, from Bechtel, Al Medwin, Col Clarke and Pat Ramunno. It was in 1990 that he transferred with CRA to Kaltim Prima Coal where he was reporting to John Arkeveld. In 1994 he returned to PNG where he lived in Kimbe and was employed by New Britain Palm Oil Limited (NBPOL). He remained in Kimbe until a few months ago when he contracted an illness associated with leukemia.

A few years ago it was said that John, at that particular time, managed the largest fleet of Volvo on-road trucks in the Southern Hemisphere. It was Volvo Managers, Michael Norman and Peter Marshall, who alerted me to our loss. Thank you so much, Michael and Peter.

  

John was a keen fisherman. On one memorable occasion John, while looking after Carrots` boat, took Bob Gowans and myself for an adventure around the Zuens and beyond. I am sure that others would like to write of JB`s fishing prowess. There were many stories.

  

John`s funeral will take place at the Centenary Memorial Gardens on Thursday 9^th August at 2;00 PM.

A memorial service will also be conducted in PNG.

Davo and Peter B.

https://www.centenarymemorialgardens.com.au/

Colin Browne R I P

Subject: Colin Browne R I P

All,

We regret to advise the passing of our long time friend, Colin Browne. Col departed us on the 22nd June in the Bega Hospital after a fall at his home on the 21st June. Our condolences go to Anne and the family including Liz, Sally, Peter, Vicki, Venetia and James and the grand-children. Several of the family spent extended periods living in Panguna. You could say that they were one of Panguna’s best known families. Anne spent a long spell as the nurse at B60. I for one was most grateful for her attendance. There was many a Monday where I started the week with a visit to Anne’s little donga to have patched up, my weekend football and squash injuries. I remember Sally and Vic’s wedding, at DCV’s house.

Col arrived in Panguna in 1969. His initial employment was with camp management contractor, B F Brown. In due course he joined the client, BCL. My first motor vehicle in Panguna was a Toyota utility, marked “B F Brown No. 17”. Col kindly assisted me with this purchase.

I have great memories around enjoying a few drinks subsequent to a hard day at our Panguna office. When Peter Petty (with his pet rock) managed the Camp 10 camp and boozer it was widely considered that he served up the coldest SP on the island. There was a period where the Cricket Club was closed for some reason so we would congregate at Camp 10. Some of Peter’s better customers were Ron Herrick, Gary Reynolds, John Langman, John Pearson and Jack Green. In those days, way back in 1972 I was the local bookie as well as running the electrical warehouse for Bechtel WKE. Peter Browne worked close to me in this warehouse and workshop at around this time. I can remember being on the receiving end of some stern glances from Col with regard to my bookmaking activities. At that time Col held a management role across several of the Panguna and Loloho camps.

Col will be very much missed by the extended Browne family and by their large circle of friends.

There will be a notice in the Sydney Morning Herald, the Melbourne Age and the Herald Sun this week, Tuesday and Saturday. The celebration of Col’s life will take place at the Long Tome No Sea Restaurant, Cutagee Lake, Bermagui, Sapphire Coast NSW. The service and gathering will commence at 2:00 pm and conclude at 4:30 pm on Tuesday 17th July.

Thanks to Liz and to Vic for your timely assistance.

Regards, Davo and Peter B.

Gavan Comber R I P

All,

We regret to advise of the passing of another long time Arawa resident, Gavan Comber, on the 16^th May. Our condolences go to Sandra, Jacqui and to the family. Gavan`s D O B was the 2^nd June, 1939. He was one of 5 siblings, his youngest brother survives him.

Gavan started off as an apprentice Heavy Equipment Fitter with the traditional period of apprenticeship with the electricity authority in his home town of Yallourn, and the associated studies at the local Technical College. He worked there for 11 years, then joined Alcoa at Geelong, and that’s where he met Sandra.

He was employed in Bougainville on 2 occasions, the first time was from 1972, for about 5 years, the second time was from `85 to `89. They seem to have had a number of 5 year assignments, including Goldsworthy.

Some of you will remember the Combers from their time (`76 to `78), as partners of Kuki and Yvonne, in the Il Gondalier restaurant, just across from the Arawa squash club. 

The funeral was at Pinnaroo crematorium, on the 24^th May. Gavan’s favorite hymn “Amazing Grace”, was delivered arcapella by the assembled friends and family. Very moving.

​“We are so saddened to hear of the passing of Gavan Comber on May 16/2018

His wife Sandra contacted us, we have been friends for many years.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the family at this difficult time.

Rest in peace my friend

From

Remy n Russell Wilson”

Thanks Sandra, Russ, Remy and Yvonne, Kuki and the network.

Regards

Davo and Peter”

Reg Fitzgerald R I P

All,

We are sorry to advise of the passing of our old mate, Reg Fitzgerald. Our condolences go to the family.

Reg spent 1977 to 1982 employed in B16. He came to us as a Diesel Fitter. He went on to be a more than useful Maintenance Planner, Parts Controller, Cataloguer and Expediter. For a couple of years he was with JDA including, in the late 90`s as our Site Manager at the Tabubil mine. His departure from Tabubil was somewhat hasty. There was an altercation with a village-owned PMV. It was an argument that he was not going to win so we quickly returned him to the safety of Melbourne. Reg worked for JDA on several occasions including elsewhere in PNG and in Indonesia.

If we were called upon to describe Reg`s attributes in just a couple of words we would use “colourful” and/or “jovial”. No conversation with Reg would conclude without a short summary of his latest escapades and of course his latest joke .  I first came across Reg when he was house sitting a mutual friend`s house in Arawa. You will remember the highly respected Dog and also there is the Grub. Well Reg carried the handle of “the Faggott.” I was often reminded that I must not go into print without the “the” preceding the names. Reg often visited with another good friend in Mal Pang who was the proprietor of what he described as a family resort, in the Phillipines.

We sure had some good times, Reg.

Thank you to all those who returned Peter`s call including Wingnut, Bazza and Mike Baxter; For some of those notes, see below; 

We will miss the little bloke.

Davo and Peter B.

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From: Terry Gunning <terrygunning@bigpond.com>
Sent: 21 April 2018 10:47
To: Peter Bennett
Subject: RE: Late Reg

 Hello Wantoks.

I don't reckon I can add too much of what we already know about the surface side of Reg.

He had a very quick wit.

Could tangle words with the best.

He'd let you know where you stood with words that clearly expressed so.

Very much a fun lover, and easy to get along with.

Would be in any and every prank going, just for humour side. He'd help make up pranks just for the humour.

He knew his job well.

Loved a cool drink in the early days.

Dedicated HHH.

Regards

Terry

Then there were also responses from Mike Baxter, Barry O`Toole and Peter Wanless

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From: Bazza <Toolesrus@optusnet.com.au>
Sent: 17 April 2018 03:56:28
To: John Davidson;
Subject: FW: sad news

             Ni Hao,  Davo

                      How the bloody el ar ya ?

       Please see the below update on Reg / Fagott that I have received from WingNUT.

oN  oN,  bazza

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From: peterwanless@bigpond.com [mailto:peterwanless@bigpond.com]
Sent: Monday, 16 April 2018 8:12 PM
To: Bazza
Subject: Re: sad news

Baz,

Sad news, just received a call from Faggots brother in law , Reg died earlier this evening, will keep in touch.

Regards,

Wingnut

These are some of my recollections of life with reg. I will leave the discretion part to you as I am not sure if there was an Aussie Reg and an expat Reg.

·         I first met Reg when he arrived in Tabubil in the early 80’s coming from Bougainville mine where he worked. We met through the HASH club at Tabubil, (the hash is a worldwide organization that was started in Malaysia in 1938 by some RAF personnel. It is commonly referred to as runners with a drinking problem or drinkers with a running problem). It was one of three clubs in Tabubil the others being the Golf Club and the Gazebo. We were well organized for families and the single people.

·         Reg was a member of the hash band called Rule 6 which I will not go into as these days is “very political incorrect”. He said that he was the second-best drummer in the world the best being Ringo.

·         The hash had a great social agenda with very big party weekends concluding with a Monday night run.

·         Reg would call everyone first thing Monday morning to collect info on who had stuffed up over the weekend so that he could call them out and they could repent after the Monday night run.

·         He also had some great party tricks being the “dance of the flamers” which he would perform after a few drinks, it consisted of him making a tail of toilet paper coming out naked with the tail alight occasionally he would get it wrong with disastrous results (the smell of burning hair), the second was the Milo swim, he would go into the kitchen fill his undies with Milo then into the pool and slowly swim past couples and let the Milo out. The pool quickly emptied.

·         He was a very good Squash player and always let you know who was winning on the court and for weeks afterwards.

·         When he moved to the Philippines he played bowls and golf, I would go up and stay with him and it was always a competition on who could come up with the best one liners and personal abuse was a game. We had many great times.

·         And over the last few years the daily morning calls will be missed and both Terry Gunning (red dog) and self will miss his parting line “well go and get  . . . . . .” and “go swanies”

Regards Baxter.

Kent Baker R I P

All,

This note is to advise you of the passing of Kent Baker. Sorry that I am again late on the scene. Our condolences go to Cora and the family. There are 3 children and now, 4 grand-children. One family lives in the U S and the others live close by, in Melbourne. Besides the family there have been a number of Bougie-ites providing close support. These include Brian and Cora, from Perth, Andy and Evelyn from Sydney, Terry Roach (also a squashie, from B58), Bruce and Wendy, Derek (Bill) and Gabrielle, from NSW. The Bailey`s and the Smith`s travelled interstate. Thanks guys.

Kent was born in October, 1948, in Ringwood, Victoria. He joined BCL in 1974 as an Electrician and he was quickly promoted to a Leading Craftsman role. His first Supervisor was Kevin Bowman. He went on to spend many years as an Electrical Foreman in Panguna`s main B58 Electrical Workshops. Cora was with our I T Department for several years, commencing in 1976.  She was a PA to our Derek for many of those years. The Bakers left us in 1985 to commence a family business in Australia including for a time as a newsagent. The Bakers are based in the Melbourne suburb of Chermside Park.

Kent was an accomplished squash player. He usually held down an ‘A’ Grade slot in the Panguna competition.

We have been aware that Kent has been bravely fighting brain cancer and he did so for more than 6 years.  Only a few months ago he called me, very chatty, to assist him in locating one of our number.

Smithie said that Kent was quite rapt, to see his beloved Bulldogs win the premiership in 2016.

Davo and Peter B 

Mary Smith R I P

Hullo all, Sorry for lateness in posting this notice.

All,

It is sad to hear of the passing of our dear friend, Mary Smith. Our condolences to Hec, and to Tania, Hector and their families. Mary and her family made a sound contribution to our lives in Panguna. It was indeed a wonderful place to spend a few years. In mining circles outside Bougie it was considered that we lived in a remote location. The residents of Panguna were rarely heard to describe it so. There existed these strong family networks as with the Smiths and many others. The Smiths arrived in the mid-70’s and then stayed longer than most.

Hec has kindly shared with us some nice words, see directly below. And long time family friend Bill Howie has blessed us with his contribution, see further down. Thanks Bill.

“ Mary Smith      20-05-42 to 01-03-2018

As her health declined, Mary spoke of how good a life she has had, and the many countries she had visited and, of course, the many good times and incidents that brought joy and laughter to her life. Especially about her time in that beautiful island paradise we called Bougainville.

She had that wonderful ability to laugh at her own mistakes, and who will forget the chicken soup fiasco, one of many funny times,

Mary was not a determined person, neither was she stubborn or argumentative (I can see the eyebrows being raised).

Squash players will remember her stoushes with the umpire. John McEnroe would have been proud of her. Mary was taught the game of Bridge by Leila Worth on Bougainville, a game she grew to love, and it became a major part of her life; she was an active member of the Tamborine Mountain Bridge Club.

Mary has been privileged to live with her family, including the grandchildren, for the last 24 years on Tamborine Mountain. She helped her daughter Tania manage the Guest House and raise the children. She is dearly loved and missed by her family.

Hec Smith “

“For a few of the early years I worked with Hec in the Concentrator Division. For many years he was our Milling Operations Supt. I can remember one particular occasion when the Panguna-ites displayed their generosity towards a bunch of new hires,. This group were mainly single electricians and engineers from the UK. The Panguna families, via the sporting clubs and otherwise, were most generous with their assistance. A few names that I can remember are Ernie Stegel, Ian Sanderson, Mike Leatherland, Bill (Derek Richard) Bailey, Brian Smith (a Liverpool supporter), and John Tovland. I wonder where they are now …

Thank you Mary.

Bill Howie”

From Peter Bennett and Davo.

Bougainville Reunion Report

 All,

Those of us who attended the picnic enjoyed a beautiful sunny day. There was plenty of kai and plenty of good conversation.   BBCG ladies again handled the catering superbly. These hard-working people included Assumpta Christine, Emanuella Nerau, Lucy Junker, Lina Palanga, Monica Larcombe and Vero Henderson, and not forgetting Les Henderson It is often difficult to predict our attendance statistics. Last year the food was sold out early, so they prepared a lot more this year, and had a bit of a surplus at the end of the afternoon. We hope more of our friends will get there next year and enjoy the whole affair.

See the BBCG Facebook to learn more about the 6 months projects that they are planning for the next, and the fund-raising events to support them

As usual there was a generous sprinkling of interstate travellers including Ted and Con from WA and the Bandit from Victoria. John Robinson had most of his family over from Kiwi. And Phillip Williams came up from Bowral for his first Bougainville Reunion.

There was a dozen or so who went to both parties, ie, the  Under the House charity function, on the Friday evening, as well as the Reunion on Sunday at the usual Boondall-by-the-lake picnic.

This year we had 5% change of addresses. If you move house or have a new email address or mobile number, please send details to Peter or to me.  Peter is eager to build up a bit of a team. If you have time to spare then he will have a task that will suit you.      E.g. John Mowatt will set Peter up with a better mailing system for more regular newsletters. And you will see more regular Davo Blogs from me and Peter.

Many of our regulars were there soaking up the sunshine including Rhonda and George, Vic and Sally. Grand-son, Xavior was becoming quite skilful at getting his soccer ball into the lake, just out of the reach of his Pa.  Bypass was there, as were Cyril, Murray and Lynne and their daughter, the dancer. Mrs Devereux was brought to us by her family and then afterwards, Cathy took Marcia to connect with Gold Coast public transport. We admire your energy, Cath.  We so admire you also, Marcia. Today you must feel that you have completed a half marathon. I can tell you that we appreciate your efforts to get with us each year.  (Did you know that Davo did a 10 km mini-marathon earlier in the morning, fund-raising for charity ?).  Gary Costello I had not seen for many years. The Ryans were well-represented, as was the Weiss dynasty. Kurt travelled all the way from Melbourne.  It was nice to connect with Justin Cohu who we had not seen since he left Bougie. From Maleny came the Sherwoods, Keith and Carole, as did Derek (Banga) Wilson.  Former Pink Palace bean counter, Phil Williams, made his way all the way from Bowral. I will shortly visit Bowral and Phil. The Hosking family accounted for a big chunk of the attendees. It was also so nice to catch up with Ken and Elsie Brady.

See the photos on the “ex Bougainville Copper” Facebook. 

Does anyone have a contact for Ken and Wella Hooper? They have been missing for the last year or so. Cynthia`s non-attendance prompted a phone call to Sydney. I can report that her and Barclay are keeping well. Ross and Wendy Colvin must hold some sort of record for unbroken attendance at our picnics. The Howie family was well represented. On Friday evening I heard Karyn long before she actually came into view. It`s Ok, we are good mates! Rae and Lisa came from the Sunshine Coast. How rude of me Rae, not spending time with you. By the way I spoke with Jim this week. Some goss i would like to share with you is that our network will be reporting an 80^th birthday prior to the end of the year.

We are proud to know you, Zilmer. Everybody note that Peter will shortly venture to Charlotville, Virginia to compete in the world squash championships.

Robbie Brown was at both functions. She sure gave the dance floor a workout on Friday.

Russ was at the picnic. Russ, when you get back to Cairns please send out a search party for Chaddy. Cyril will agree that Chaddy has never before gone a year without making a pest of himself. It is Ok, Chaddy is also a mate . . . . . . . .  Rob and Peter Quod`s were in good form. It was so nice to hear them speaking of their dad and his last few months. Peter related to me how the next line of Quods are completing their tertiary qualifications and entering the workforce.  I do hope that at least one of them will reach the rare career heights that were attained by their Pa. We so missed Paul, last Sunday. Several months ago I would not be giving this much cheek.

By the way, Melbourne is still there. Chris andIi recently visited with Glenda Smith, the Wrights, Paul and Veronika, the Mortons, Harv and Sara and the Stewies, Neal and Di. The Stewies are out of town a bit, in an idyllic corner of the world.  We had a really nice time on their little farm.

Regards

John, and Peter B.