Taim Bilong Kiap A Personal Recollection Peter Worsley Author: Peter Worsley Title: Taim Bilong Kiap: A Personal Recollection Subject: Four years as a Patrol Officer in Papua and New Guinea during the early 1960s © 2013 Peter Worsley This book is copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission. Enquiries should be made to: Peter Worsley 12 Cleopatra Drive, Mandurah, Western Australia, 6210. Printed by: Par Excellence – Tel: 9472 0030: email: [email protected] 2 Introduction main responsibility was law and order, he was given police powers as a member of the Native The following extract is from Una Voce No. 4, Constabulary and made a Magistrate of the December 2003. Una Voce is the Journal of the Court of Native Affairs. He worked long hours Papua New Guinea Association of Australia Inc and was on twenty-four hour call, seven days a (formerly the Retired Officers Association of Pa- week. As well as district administration, famil- pua New Guinea Inc.): iarising himself with the people and the country, patrolling, court work and suchlike, the kiap needed a range of knowledge to be a ‘Jack of all KIAPS OF PAPUA NEW GUINEA - The Post- trades’. He had to plan and supervise the war Era building of roads, bridges, houses, airstrips, [Kiap is the Pidgin word for a Patrol Officer] wharves and hospitals and as records had to be kept and reports written, he needed to be a com- A tribute to those who followed in the tradition petent clerical person. His ultimate aim was to and footsteps of the pre-war ‘outside’ men in build an orderly, prosperous and unified people penetrating and establishing law and order in living in peace and harmony, with independence the primitive areas of Papua and New Guinea from Australia the long-term goal. In the main by Nancy Johnston the kiaps did not abuse the powers they held; pride gave them the integrity to handle their Dame Rachel Cleland wrote: After all, when you role and earn respect. saw a twenty year old boy with perhaps five po- licemen keeping 30,000 warring tribesmen in Not all kiaps had the same experiences; they happy harmony, you were just astounded at the went where they were sent - some places were thought, ‘how does he do it!’ extremely dangerous, some not so dangerous and others were considered ‘safe’. Patrols took After World War II, when peace came to Papua them through a diversity of country and experi- New Guinea, many of the towns and other signs ences - some young kiaps faced dreadful situa- of development had been destroyed, native vil- tions in the ultra-primitive areas where they lages and gardens were devastated and planta- lived and patrolled. Some ‘outside’ kiaps put tions damaged or neglected. The job of recon- their lives on the line several times during their struction lay ahead, as well as the task of estab- long patrols - they faced the potential danger of lishing good relations with the native people. being killed with poison-tipped arrows, spears, There were primitive areas to be manned, and or axed to death, as well as the threat of acci- blank spots on the map that had to be brought dents and sickness, including malaria and scrub under government control - places where canni- typhus. They experienced food shortages and bal warriors still practised all sorts of evil deeds. faced the continual torrential rain, the blazing hot sun, and the freezing temperatures in the Young Australian men, some not yet twenty years swirling mists in the mountain areas; they faced old, were selected and trained to serve in the the peril of crocodiles, deadly snakes, massive Australian Administration as patrol officers bush pigs and the discomfort of millions of mos- (kiaps) with the Department of District Services quitoes as well as wasps, spiders, scrub mites and Native Affairs. DDS & NA was a trail- and leeches. There was nothing glamorous blazer department, its kiaps manned the primi- about patrolling; it was simply hard, dirty and tive areas or explored and opened up others, and uncomfortable work. when an area came under control, members from other departments and agencies, missionaries In some areas the kiaps undertook dangerous and commercial people moved in. Health was climbing, with their police and carriers usually the next department into an area, then (burdened with patrol equipment), going Agriculture and Education followed and when through precipitous limestone gorges, climbing outstations became towns, the Police Department cliffs and picking their way along narrow ledges sent in its European officers to handle police du- in ‘broken glass’ country. They spent weeks, ties. sometimes months, living in clothes wet from sweat, rain, and crossing and re-crossing flood- Until this happened, the kiap was the representa- ed rivers. Some raging rivers formed ferocious tive of all arms of government in his area. His whirlpools sucking down anything near them. 3 And there were traps, serving as a sign they And let us not forget the indigenous police of the were not welcome in the area, and needed to Royal Papua and New Guinea Constabulary. ‘watch their back’. Some faced warriors They made it possible for a handful of men to do fighting one another with bows and arrows, and so much in controlling large areas of the country the kiaps stationed on the PNG/West Irian bor- for the benefit of its people; it would not have der at the time of illegal incursions by political been possible for the kiaps to accomplish what refugees from Irian Jaya faced the weapons of they did without their help. Adrian Geyle wrote: the Indonesian para-military. In the 60s/early There would not be an ex-patrol officer who 70s, their work was ‘classified’ and this could served in Papua New Guinea who had less than be the reason so little is known about the dan- the highest regard for the men of the Royal Papua gers these young men faced. & New Guinea Constabulary who came under their command; and after an exploratory patrol, Peter Ryan, the editor of ‘The Encyclopedia of Bill Johnston wrote: The Royal Papua & New PNG’ wrote: The enterprise, dedication, honesty Guinea Constabulary (as it was called from 1952) and sheer bravery of-the district staff, the was an essential part of the system of Govern- ‘kiaps’,...were remarkable. ...the exploration and ment. The patrolling officer may have played the the pacification of millions were achieved at the role of leader, the force keeping the group togeth- cost of a few skirmishes. The law came, without er and working as one, but he would have got no- which any general softening of life is impossible. where without the effort and strength of these In any event, I make no apology for this candid men; a few could ever equal them in the world. It tribute to the kiaps, who wrote one of the most was a unique partnership, in that the patrolling honourable pages in this country’s history. officer relied on them for so much and they relied [from ‘Some Unfinished Business from the Sec- on him for just as much in a different way. They ond World War’ printed in the Sept 1995 issue were, on the whole, magnificent loyal men. Ser- of ‘Quadrant’] geant Gonene said he knew the kiaps were young, but he tried to brief them or give them It is my belief the kiaps who penetrated and pa- advice about things. He tried to be confident in trolled the hostile primitive areas, and the himself so the young officers would have confi- young ones who were posted to isolated and dence in him and get that strength. dangerous outposts in the early postwar years, and those who later worked on the PNG/West And as we do with the wartime Fuzzy Wuzzy An- Irian border, did not get the acknowledgment gels, we should not forget the contribution made they deserved from the Australian Administra- by the carriers and interpreters who accompa- tion. Some gave their lives (Gerald Szarka and nied the patrolling officers. Bill Johnston rec- 21 year-old Geoff Harris, to name a couple, orded in one report: They gave their best and they were brutally murdered near Telefomin), many were tough men who never complained they were gave their youth and some their health, physical being pushed beyond their limit. I tried to make and otherwise, and some have injuries and scars them part of the team and did not regard them as that will last a lifetime. beasts of burden. Many kiaps spent decades working for the Ad- Only a few people know of the contribution the ministration to make PNG a better place for kiaps and their native police and carriers made, having been there and they left without fanfare and it seems that there never will be any other or thanks or official recognition. During peace- recognition of their work except from this few. I time young Australians are recruited into the wonder if the people who went to live and work armed forces, some see overseas service for in Papua New Guinea appreciate the fact that the maybe six months, with the advantage of modern pre-war ‘outside men’ and the postwar kiaps benefits, communications and extra pay. When made it possible for them to be there. they return they are feted whether or not they saw or heard a shot fired in anger, and the Aus- It is more than fifty years since those early post- tralian government gives commendations and war days and the kiaps from that era are passing.