Sad times - Nick Crawley's response

All,

Quite often I receive a very entertaining response to my sad notes. Going forward I will share more of these with you

________________________________________

From: Nick Crawley <crawley.n@xtra.co.nz>

Sent: Saturday, 15 August 2015 2:33 PM

To: Info@johndavidson.com.au

Subject: Fwd: Sad times.

Good afternoon, John and Chrissie,

A sad week to be sure, all brings back memories.

Corinne and I remember Photene well, helped us out of a serious embarrassment I might add. Please bear with me a tad.

Paul and Gabby went south to plant some rellie, and Mark, Danya and Petra were staying at our place in their absence.

At the time we also had an aged Dachshund / heeler cross called Meg who we inherited in the Western Highlands.

Young Mark was about 4 yrs old and had a generous disposition towards Meg to the extent he offered her a piece of toast from his mouth.

Totally overcome by this extraordinary show of benevolence, Meg lunged forward to gratefully gobble the tasty morsel offered.

In her excitement, Meg unfortunately also mouthed Marks chin along with the toast, which subsequently required medical attention.

The NS Medical Foundation was not around at that time, either the govt hausik or Photene who had a clinic under her house in Section 19.

It was a Saturday morning as I recall and we all toddled off at great speed to visit rudely interrupted Photene who was also eating her breakfast toast.

Mark was not what you'd call a co-operative patient, he was belligerent, in pain, bleeding and put succinctly, most out of sorts with everything and everyone.

It required a mass of very able bodied grown ups to hold him in a supine position so Photene could administer the local into his chin, marvellous performance.

The ensuing commotion was quite frightening and I had to rush outside a couple of times to have a quick smoke to calm my shattered composure.

Ended up a beautiful job done by Photene, only thing remaining was for me to explain how it happened to Gabby, and get the stitches out in due course.

Paul and Gabby were excellent at the news, Gabby actually suggested that Mark could classify the subsequent scar as a duelling mishap in his later years.

I distinctly remember making sure I was at Mananau when the 5 stitches were due to come out!

Martin Atobu was a very loyal member of the NS Agricultural Foundation who together with his wife Mary, did a marvellous job of managing the

28,000 bird layer project.

This became increasingly difficult when the troubles started to interrupt all BCL activities from Birempa to Empress Augusta Bay, and our Mananau facilities were very open.

The PNG Defence forces were located at Camp 10 and Kawerong/Karoona Haus, and not at all interested in putting a section in at our project for support.

We soldiered on there with Martin running the show, with all our workforce, until the PNGDF ordered us to decamp and move to Panguna with 24hrs notice.

I got 14 girls into Kawerong Haus, and they loved it - great tucker, 2 to a room and hot showers. The 8 men went into Karoona.

I had Martin, Mary and their 2 children plus the abattoir foreman and his wife and 1 child and they all moved into my place for a few days until we got accom. fixed.

I don't know how Mary did it, but the household was total harmony, kids well behaved, everyone fed and peace reigned - my Piggery supervisor lived 300 metres down the road in his house, and he came up the river bank to my place every night for a rum and coke with me. Martin was a man of God and settled for the coke, fine with me, grog was very hard to come by in those times. I showed concern about Pius coming in, but he ensured me the PNGDF up never showed after curfew unless in a large group, and then very noisy. All my Mananau staff were B'villeans except the abattoir man, and they had very little regard, respect or support for the Defence Force, police or army.

We all flew down in Horst's big chopper, subsequently fire bombed, to work each morning, and back mid afternoon, making work schedules with livestock very trying.

Pig carcasses were flown out every Monday to Panguna and the trucked down to Arawa - as pork demand lessened from SHRM, we were able to 'export' more to Lae.

Martin was shot through his LandCruiser door in the right ankle with a dum dum 12 gauge round which caused major damage, and he never regained full use of the limb.

The senior staff were all finally repatriated out of B'ville of course, leaving a lot of very fine BCL people to the tender mercies of some quite bad people.

Martin Atobu was a fine man, dedicated to his job, well respected by all and with the typical B'villean sense of humour - his wife Mary (a Chimbu, studied at Vudal with Martin) was an exceptional person in spite many hardships she had to endure, no doubt helped by her very devout adherence to the Catholic Church.

Davo, I digress as usual, appreciate your patience.

I recall both Trevor and Paul, both part of the great comradie we had on B'ville which we did not appreciate until we all left!

My best regards to you both,

Nick and Corinne.

All,

This was close to the end and I was required to visit Panguna and Arawa regularly to ensure that new hires were receiving the most up to date information as to what was happening on-the-ground there. I remember dining at Haus Fragnito and Haus Crawley in those distant days. One topic that dominated conversation at Crawley`s was around the quality of Nick`s rum. I picked up that he is more than handy in the kitchen. There is a variance from the above prose in that Nick`s utility was reinforced with steel plate and that it was Nick who "ran the gauntlet" to ensure that pig and chicken food made it through to Mananau.

Josie, thanks for your input.

Davo

My story - Ride to Conquer Cancer

My Ride to Conquer Cancer effort came to a sudden stop at around the 75 km mark, some 25 kms from Canungra. On Saturday, just prior to mid-day, I was negotiating a downhill stretch at a speed that, perhaps, was beyond me. There was a significant depression in the surface of the bitumen and I was thrown over the handle bars. There was no call for stitches and, so far, we have found no broken bones. However I will not be returning to the dance floor any time soon. 

I have had an opportunity to view, at close quarters, an extremely professional organization. I was just starting to get to know the event staff and some of the other participants. Event Director, Kat Coppins, was nearby when I fell. She gathered myself and my bike and ferried me to the Canungra camp-site. There I was placed into the hands of Tim and his medical group. In late afternoon one of Kat`s staff, Bianca Swapshire transported me back to St Lucia.  Bianca, I apologise for my bad manners in nodding off on the trip home.  Also at the accident scene was a participant, Justin, who is a Surgeon.  He also checked me over for any broken bones. Thanks Justin, I was very much in need of your reassurance.

Thank you, one and all, you run an excellent operation. I look forward to the 2016 ride.

This is the third time that I have spent time in Canungra.  It is difficult for me to think of this place without feel some twinges of pain. In November, 1966 I was traveling to Canungra in a train that was a troop train with some carriages reserved for civilians.  Prior to boarding the train, in Sydney we stocked up on beer for the journey. It was my 21^st Birthday. The pain commenced several kms north of Gloucester, around midnight, when I recovered consciousness next to the track.  The train was speeding North, through the NSW countryside. By the look of my uniform I realised that I had lost significant blood.  I could hear poultry in the distance and I set off in this direction. I had second thoughts around this plan and returned to the track. In due course I found that I was walking towards Gloucester. To reach town from the North I was obliged to negotiate several large gullies.  I eventually knocked on the door of a house on the outskirts of the town. It was early morning and the lady who came to door was the local hairdresser. By the look on her face I must have been a frightful sight. She immediately screamed out to her husband to call the ambulance. There were twin nursing sisters on duty and I recall the name, Knox. They completed their night shift and then stayed on to pick all the gravel and other foreign objects from my face and forehead. I was in Gloucester for 5 days and at midnight, on the same train, I departed for Queensland and Canungra.  The doctor gathered me to the train. Conversation was minimal but I do remember him saying that I should, “drop in again sometime”.   This undeserving little wretch, that I was,  received 2 lovely birthday cakes, one from the staff at the hairdressers and the other from the hospital staff.  The story pf my little mishap (including a photo of my very bruised face) filled the front page of the Sydney Daily Herald. Many years later, with my wife and infant children, i returned to Gloucester to seek out and thank people for their kindness.  The only person that I could locate was the Hospital Matron, from those times, Sister Casson. We stopped by for a cuppa and a chat.

Our Army unit, 7 RAR were not aware that I was missing until breakfast was being served at South Grafton. I then was obliged to take a phone call from our Adjutant, Captain Peter Leeson.  I can only say that I have participated in more enjoyable calls. Peter was also dealing with another 3 from our Company who went AWOL, in Sydney.  When I reached Canungra my mates were mid-way through their Jungle Training Courses. I was bedded down in the RAP until they figured out what they should do with me. I had sustained a knee injury that was slow to heal. I was shipped by train back to Puckapunyal, Victoria. I was sent back to Canungra about 3 months later. On the 20 April, 1967 I boarded HMAS, Sydney for Vietnam.

Help me Conquer Cancer!

On the 15th & 16th of August I will be cycling 200kms in 2 days to raise much needed funds for the

 QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute. 

If you would like to donate to this very worthy cause, you can do so at 

www.conquercancer.org.au 

and then search for "John Davidson" and my participant ID is 690601-4.

Many Thanks, Davo

Medical Materials for Bougainville

Last month our first sea container of medical equipment arrived in Kieta, Bougainville. With our modus operandi tried and proven we embarked upon a much more ambitious mission. The main contributors to these works are again the Brisbane Bougainville Community Group, the management of leading OEM, Volvo and a small cell from our Bougie picnic reunion fraternity. Along the way we were supported by Rotary International, Ruswin Locksmiths, Curtains Bros, Consort Shipping, Batta Signs and several other individuals and organisations. The original plan for our North Queensland adventures only remained in place for a couple of days. Subsequent to this we were obliged to plan as we progressed? The quantities of materials and the degree of difficulty in stuffing the containers varied constantly. 

You will read elsewhere of the spectacularly successful fund raising by the BBCG. Add to this the ongoing generosity of the Bougie picnickers and we have a strong foundation for further good works and above everything else we have a wonderful cause. 

How did all of this begin? Just in passing, at our 2014 Bougainville picnic, former BCL veteran, Cliff Pollock, now of the Dept. of Health, advised that some surplus materials were becoming available from Mackay Hospital. In hindsight I was rather too hasty in pressing my mates at BBCG to purchase a container. The goodies did not become available until many months later. It was then that another obscure connection came into play.  Father Chris Kestore of the BBCG advised me that his friend, Dr Chris Millar from Murwillumbah Hospital, had more donated materials than were immediately required for the Namuga Hospital, in the Eastern Solomons. Much of the contents of the first container came from this source. We have a gentleman's agreement in place that we will reciprocate with similar assistance for Namuga.

Cliff and his people, across 8 of his hospitals could not have been of more assistance to us. Some of the individuals are mentioned below. Prior to detailing the journey to you we will speak of a remarkable contribution of our sea container pack out crews. The all - important heavy lifting contribution was dominated by Alan Wilkins from Volvo and Ted Rogalski from B16 Crew One? Ted is from Mandurah, WA. We hijacked him subsequent to the picnic. Also from Crew One, we had Ken Mills from Hay Point and Kiwi McDonald from Brisbane. Their technical skills were invaluable as we broke down the heavier electronic hospital furniture. Many times over the several days of the project our team members worked well beyond what would normally be expected of any Mining Sector staff member, in his / her 20's. Our average age was in the 60’s!

We worked from Brisbane to Townsville and we had a window of only a few days. Some roads we travelled several times including the Bowen - Townsville leg. We commenced our journey proper at 5.30 am on Sunday the 31st May, when the escort vehicle (the Davidson`s family Tarago) met the Volvo Renault Kerax container handler / truck at the Caltex, in Blacksoil, on Ipswich Road. The Renault was already loaded with a 20 ft container. Subsequent to a full day`s drive across 848 km`s of country Queensland we trundled into Clermont.  We were advised that what the Clermont Motor Inn lacked in ambience was well compensated for with their superior fair and this proved to be quite accurate.

We were standing by ready to load from Monash Lodge at 7.00 am.  Our resourceful Kiwi mate dismantled a section of the hospital fence to provide us with better access to the goodies there. Late morning we loaded up and moved, just around the corner, to the Clermont Hospital. By the time we departed Clermont the container was half full.  At Clermont we were made welcome by Liz Livingstone and her staff and this became a general aspect of our journey and our interface with Dept of Health staff.  We were later than planned into Moranbah and once again there was more material than anticipated. It was Michelle Esler and her staff who cared for us in Moranbah.  Subsequent to Moranbah, we travelled for the rest of the day to Hay Point and into the, quite overwhelming, hospitality of the Mills family. There was a spread of seafood fit for a king.  Ken had already gathered the surplus materials from the Sarina Hospital and it was stored in his garage.  At Sarina Ken liaised with Loraine Kerr. We made an early start into Mackay on the Tuesday, allowing us to commence the pack out about 8.30 am. We could only fit half of the available materials from Mackay into the Brisbane container and then we then set sail for the Curtains yard, in Townsville. Once again our program was turned on its head and we were obliged to think on our feet. This evening (Tuesday) at the Colonial Rose Motel (Bowen Road, Townsville) was the last conventional sit down meal that we enjoyed. Until we concluded our works on the Friday we were either driving or loading.  Passengers in the Tarago were usually sleeping. To take full advantage of the resources, both HR and the world class Volvo plant, we purchased 2 further containers from Royal Wolf Trading. Alan`s log book was beginning to look rather "crowded". In a week of hard work and much heroics the heroics of our Renault Kerax skipper went to another dimension. To relieve the pressure we were fortunate to have access to another Volvo staffer in Dean Hartley.  Dean supported us in the Renault, on a leg between Townsville and Bowen. We used Townsville as our base. We gathered almost a full load from the Collinsville and Bowen Hospitals. When we headed south for the final load we were obliged to take in Proserpine, Mackay and Hay Point.  We jumped into the truck at 2.30 am Thursday and Alan dropped me into the family, in Rockhampton at 4.30 pm on the Friday. Alan then spent this night in Gingin and he was home in Brisbane for breakfast. I have not mentioned the performance of the Renault.  While lacking somewhat in comfort when not under load; there is not a single other aspect of its performance that left anything to be desired.

The Dept. of Health staff continued to provide us with every possible support.  On the first entry to Mackay Hospital we were received by Chris Hopf, Jeff Davies and Kelly Haidle. The second time around we were hosted by Cliff.  In speaking with Jeff we found that he had spent time in aviation in New Britain, PNG.  At Proserpine we were attended by Tracey Bluck and Hector Phillipson. In Colllinsville it is Breen Austin and Anne Buckingham that we have to thank.  In Bowen we will maintain close contact with Kevin and Pauline Maude and Ann Barton.   Also, in Bowen, we connected with the President of Bowen Rotary, Helen Woodhouse. Helen heads the Bowen Blue Nurses. One thing that we learnt during the journey was the importance of correct and safe tying down our load. Helen may be able to assist us with some expertise in this regard when we come to pack out the remaining container.

For the week we clocked 4873 km`s.

With the weird hours that we were keeping we never got to meet with Stan.  However we were often reminded that he was watching over us.  On many of the town signings was the comforting sign, "under surveillance of Ruswin". Since our departure Stan has connected us with the management of the Townsville Hospital.

We have 3 full containers sitting with our friends at Curtains and a fourth container sitting empty in the grounds of the Bowen Hospital. The Dept. of Health is awaiting a delivery of beds at which time some 19 further beds will become available. At Curtains we enjoyed the support of Wolf, Peter, Karl and Craig.  To decide on a target destination for this final load of beds we will seek counsel of our DG, George.

Cliff and Kiwi in Mackay Hospital

Hydraulic hospital beds donated by the Murwillumbah medical fraternity and transported by Volvo & Consort Shipping

The tireless Mark Flood from Applus Velosi, fraternizing with the locals in downtown Murwillumbah

Preparing Arawa's new power unit for travel in Volvo's Darra workshop

Some more Volvo Kerax “magic”

Some more Volvo Kerax “magic”

Dawn departure from Blacksoil – Alan, Davo and the Rig

Standing by for departure from Townsville

Our 1^st Uplift – 10 beds from Monash Lodge

Our pack-out “specialists” – Alan and Ted on the job

The Crew 1 team:  Ted, Millsie and Kiwi - with a ring in from Personnel prior to the last load, from the Mills residence

Kiwi, Alan and Davo – taking a few minutes break

Kiwi McDonald and the escort vehicle

Key Bougie Networkers; Lindsay, Arthur, Ted and Cliff

Leading the hardworking BBCG, Veronica and Monica

Letter of Appreciation from Arawa Hospital

AUTONOMOUS BOUGAINVILLE HEALTH SERVICES

              Arawa District Hospital PO BOX 138 ARAWA AROB

__________________________________________________________________________

The President

Brisbane Bougainville Community

Group Inc

2 Moray Court

Alexandra Hills

QLD 4161

Dear President,

SUBJECT:                LETTER OF APPRECIATION FOR DONATIONS OF HOSPITAL ITEMS

I write this letter to express on behalf of the Arawa Hospital Management and staff our greatest appreciation for the kind donations of much needed items including patients’ beds, generator, compressor and others we received some weeks ago.

The status of the hospital now has been elevated to a district hospital from a health centre because of the services provided here so the donations from such kind hearted fellow Bougainvilleans leaving abroad is of great assistance to our patients. The patients are currently sleeping on wooden beds without mattresses and pillows but things should change once we move those beds into the wards after the refurbishment of the hospital next month. The donated generator will be hooked up to the laboratory & operating theatre so it could run the refrigerator used to keep the blood bags for transfusion. The compressor will be kept safely for use with the sterilizer once we get one pending funding approval from the ABG.

Yes funding from the government is too slow so donations received are of great help to us especially the patients. Some lives that could have been saved we couldn’t do so because we lack basic critical equipment. The nurses have to go from sections of the hospital to borrow basic equipment like BP machines, Thermometers, Pulse Oxymeters, Oxygen Flow Meters, Foot Scales, Vacuum Extractors...etc. Hopefully after the elections we should see some significant changes to the delivery of services to our people.

Anyway President, I thank you again for the donations and I would also like to make a special mention here to Mr John Davidson whom am told is the hard working gentlemen of the Brisbane Bougainville Community for his tireless efforts in getting donations and also seeking out to other businesses in Australia especially Brisbane for assistance with transportation of the donated items.

Thank you & God bless you all.

Iggy Giranah

OIC operating theatre & cssd/acting DNS

Last Minute News re the Ball and the Picnic

All attendees for our 25th year reunions, We have a news flash!  The Irish Club, associated with their receivership status, advise that they will not honour our Ball booking. We have switched the venue and the booking to a ballroom at the Hilton Hotel.  The Hilton is situated directly opposite the Irish Club at 190 Elizabeth Street, Brisbane. Please rest assured that the show will go on! This note was just to sort some final housekeeping and to highlight that we still have some tickets available for the Ball. The final day to purchase tickets is Tuesday the 12th May. We would be grateful for any assistance with the sales of these tickets.  Profit is guaranteed to go towards the shipping of medical materials to the Bougainville medical facilities.   The best contact points for the Ball are Cathy Devereux (0448 337600) and / or Monica Larcombe (0413 495919). Our many "friends" have been extremely generous with regards raffle prizes including some major prizes from Panda Pearls. The PP raffle will be conducted separately over both the Friday evening and the Sunday (draw in mid-afternoon) Some interstaters who could not journey the distance have also contributed raffle prizes. This year we will have a mix of foods including a mumu, a sausage sizzle and kebabs. The latter will be sold for $3 per serve.  This small impost will be referred to as a donation. We will be looking for a few volunteers (perhaps just 30  minutes) to assist with the cooking. If this is you then please register your name with Ted or Davo.  The mumu has been offered by the BBCG and our local Bougainvillean community. We ask that families bring an extra chair.  There will be numerous interstate visitors.  Parking fills up quickly. DO NOT TRY TO LUMP IN YOUR ESKIES, ETC.  Walk to the picnic area and there will be trolleys and plenty of willing helpers. I am now lapun and retired and my fee is a 6 pack but most will only ask for a stubby.   Nothing has changed with the mosquito`s. About 3.30 pm they will descend upon us. Come well-equipped with Aeroguard, etc. This morning we visited the picnic venue and found that the facilities have been expanded, see below photos. Please note that if you have no wish to drive then we are situated less than 200 metres from the Boondall Railway Station.  Across the bridge, past the PICNIC sign, there are another two car parks, some of this covered.   Our ranks become thinner each year. I sense that some may be attending for the last time.   Do not miss this opportunity to catch up with your old wantoks.   Presently on the sick list are Baden Stewart, Liz Ryan, Doug Pink and Trevor Anderson.            From the veterans class we have recently been in touch with the Hoopers and the Barnhams and this week I spoke to PWQ.  We are enjoying the company of one ex-Panguna oldtimer as a house guest. He has travelled all the way from Scotland to see you guys.  I hope that he will get along with Raggles. Regards Davo John@johndavidson.com.au 0418 784 186 or 3205 8617

Kieta shipment

All of you Bougainville-ites;

BBCG Container No 1 has arrived in Arawa.  Many people and organisations have contributed to this wonderful cause. The attached shots were taken in Murwillumbah, at the beginning of the journey, at the new Volvo workshop building, in Brisbane and, on arrival in Arawa.

Our thanks go to Alan Wilkins from AB Volvo, Mark Flood from Applus Velosi, Stan Neal from Ruswin Locksmiths, Terry Fuery from Consort Shipping, our shipping agents, East West Transport.  In addition to these senior folk there was a multitude of reporting staff.  We are also grateful for the input of Ian Hayden-Smart of PNG Ports. Many individuals assisted us after hours and in their own time.

There were also several Brisbane people who jumped in behind our President (of the Brisbane Bougainville Community Group, Veronica Henderson.  Veronica herself worked tirelessly to bring this spectacularly successful outcome. Rotary International supported us from Murwillumbah to Townsville.  We could not have achieved such without them.  Of special note is the contribution of Les Pedler, from the Pine Rivers Rotary Club. There were some expenses associated with PNG customs clearance and these expenses were met by  the BBCG. Otherwise all was donated.

Over the next few weeks we commence packing our second container.

Regards

Davo

john@johndavidson.com.au

0418 784 186 or 3205 8617