New Guinea Adventures

I wrote a story about 5 years ago about some New Guinea stuff but had no photos. A mate just sent me these.

Firstly a trip up the Martkham Valley to recover a Vultee Vengeance dive bomber. I "borrowed" the Inter 6x6 Hiab from the workshop and a few of the boys came along. My wife brought the kids in our International Scout and another mates wife drove his Landcruiser. Anyhow one thing led to another and by the end of the day the 6x6, the Landcruiser and the cocky's huge 4x4 tractor were bogged to the axles. Fortunately Bev kept the kids back and the Scout was able to fight clear and ferry everyone to the homestead.

I had to go away on a flying job the next day so drove the 150km back to Lae. The engineering officer tearing his hair out about f...g pilots took an Inter 4x4 and a crew up to try to get his Hiab out. He finished bogged the worst. To cap it all the boss flew up in a Sioux helicopter and had a tail rotor strike on a small tree adding a helicopter sitting in the long Kunai grass to the gay gathering of stuck vehicles.

Oblivious to all the mayhem I had caused I arrived home 4 days later from Bougainville to see the last of the trucks driving in. It was accompanied by mud caked engineering officer. When he saw me all he said was "F...g Pilots!"

The blokes in the photo are helicopter pilot Lt Terry Hayes DFC, Obscured Sgt Blue Morrisey - the best engine mechanic in the Army and Capt Alan Pike - Lae Area Adjutant (and my old high school mate)

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The second lot were of an exercise south of the Fly River in a drought. I spotted a mob of Rusa deer gathered around the last small waterhole so got a rifle and landed the Pilatus Porter on the claypan to bowl over about 20 for the troops. Photos of my efforts which filled the Porter before I radioed for a Helicopter to come and get the rest. Me without a shirt.

The bloke in the red flying suit was a sergeant off a visiting RAAF C130 Hercules. He was a typical RAAF big girl's blouse and wanted to come and shoot but would not get dirty so danced around while the army officers gutted and lifted the deer. You can see the pansy was OK pulling on the antlers but he is carrying a cloth so he does not have to touch the bloody fur.

The other blokes in the picture are Lt John Petrie ex-SAS Vietnam and later Brigadier General and 2Lt Dave Griffiths, helicopter pilot who later became last Ansett check captain then Tiger Airlines Chief Pilot.

Great stuff Lang, bloody amazing.
I've asked this before, but just how in the hell do you get the truck out from that there bog? just keep jacking and planking?

Prodrive

As I said I was laying under a coconut tree on the beach in Bougainville waiting to do the next air drop while the boys were recovering vehicles.

As the instigator and leader of the "one day" adventure who disappeared when the going got tough I was not extremely popular with the engineering officer who owned the trucks. His boys thought it was great, getting away from fixing aircraft and getting pissed on SP Greenies each night back at the homestead.

They had to put a new tail rotor on the boss' helicopter which was great as his very public stuff up removed any force out of my potential arse kicking.

From what I was told they had to get lots of sheets of marsden matting (aircraft runway steel sheeting) of which there are millions laying around in New Guinea. Jacking was the go. They said the hardest one was the cocky's huge 4 wheel drive tractor that had disastrously tried to rescue us but finished sunk itself.