Ah Chuckles,
Those WERE the days and some poor bastid had to do some bad things. The departure of one lad may have contributed to his longevity. Recall the damage to a couple of busloads of staffers; guys beaten within inches of their life, females raped and very lucky no one was killed. Many were sent to Cairns for Psycho counselling.
I recall one pilot returning home one evening years ago with his wife and as they reached the front door, THRUMP!! a bluddy great spear passed between their heads to lodge in the door. For some unknown reason they departed not long after. The pilot did return some years later but only lasted a very short time before leaving for good.
Your story reads far better than my diary and I think that I'll use yours as the basis for inclusion in the book. I will give you credit.
Hand grenades(fragment, smoke or stun?) was at Buka after we were allowed to return under RPNGC and PNGDF control. No Xray machines in Buka, eyes tasol and one solitary T/O to do the job of three. We had to rely on crew to be observant and to this day, I belive that no such grenades were carried on board.
The other incident was at Mt Hagen when we were trying to lock up a pollie's security guard after charging him for obstruction, assault and carrying a dangerous weapon(handgun). The skipper flatly refused to testify what he had observed but luckily we had the hostie(more balls than the capt) and an off duty pilot in the cabin. Very sadly, we failed with the prison sentence but the guard was fined K2,500. A first in PNG for some time.
What about the skipper who took over the PM's flight to Jakarta from Darwin and then returned to POM with the aircraft still laden with the 18 pollies personal effects and more embarassingly, PNG's gift to the Indon President.
In reply to my query, the skipper said that it was not his job to look in cargo holds to see if thery were emptied. That cost the country and company plenty.
Yes, Chuckles, terrific days that as Percy Chatterton once said, days that I have loved, and I would not miss it for quids. If I did it again, I think that I would have to be less lenient on the spivs, miscreants and bludgers amongst a band of very fine people.