Keeping the streets of Honiara safe
Volume 11, No. 41, April 20, 2006
By Lt Simone Heyer

Peacemaker: Pte Brendan Mundy, 1RAR, on patrol.Photo by Sgt Katrina Johnson.

THE smell of smoke still hung in the air when the ration run drove in to 10 Pl’s location at a deserted Chinese community hall in Honiara.

The guys had been in loc four hours and were setting up a sleeping area. They would get a chance to rack-out until their orders for the next patrol at 2pm. They have been doing VCP and patrol rotations since they arrived in country three days earlier, with little sleep.

Pl Comd Lt Alister Sparkes says the platoon has been conducting security tasks and general support for the Participating Police Force (PPF).

“We’ve been doing platoon, section and half-section size patrols, foot and mounted patrols,” he says.

In extreme heat and high humidity, the guys are decked out in body armour and helmets. After orders, we set off for a two-hour patrol around the city. The first few streets take us straight through Chinatown. Small fires still burn in the rubble of razed Chinese businesses.

Local business owners hire groups of young men to sit around outside their closed stores to keep the rabble away. They are happily munching on betel nut and give us a nonchalant wave.

The section moves through the street, always watching, always maintaining comms between each other. There are piles of rubbish on the road, odds and ends left behind in the looting.

On the other side, locals are doing their shopping and buying fresh produce. They look happy to see us and as the section pauses for a short halt in the shade. Some of the guys in the section strike up a conversation with some locals. There has been no more trouble, they say, they’re pleased the Australian soldiers are here.

The patrol weaves through back streets of the city past a village clinging to the side of a river. Mangy dogs peer through the bushes and children scamper out on to the road to say hello.

Some locals invite us to sit with them in a communal area under enormous shady trees. One tells us he was running against the man elected as prime minister. The seco chats to him for a few minutes. The rest of the section is relaxed, but provides all-round protection while sucking in the water.

LCpl Steven Clacy says the soldiers are making a difference. “The locals are happy with what we’re doing and as long as we keep law and order, we’ll be happy,” he says.

“We’re not worried about our safety, but on ops, anything can happen. We take precautions. We haven’t had any hairy moments and enjoy chatting with the locals. They’re very friendly people.”

We loop around and retrace our path up the main street of Chinatown. The sun is starting to set and the afternoon is cooling slightly. As the section strides back into their position, the PPF opens the gate to let them pass. Back in the hall, they strip off their sweat-saturated body armour and shirts, climbing under the mozzie nets to protect them from bites.

The section is told they’ll be heading back out in an hour so they have a quick bite to eat and guzzle more water, then rack out for a few minutes until the next set of orders.

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