Wewak’s winning ways

HMAS Wewak surveyed many beaches for potential landing sites during its time in the Solomons.

HMAS Wewak (LCDR Etienne Mulder) has found that its second rotation to Op Anode harks back to two of the earliest of Naval tasks; exploration and winning hearts and minds.

In some respects the tasking took on the flavour of the ‘cargo cult’ journeys of early explorers of the Pacific Islands.

Entering small harbours in the Solomon Islands such as Uru on Malaita Island, Yandina in the Russell Islands and Avu Avu on the Weather Coast of Guadalcanal involved extremely close pilotages in waters with no tidal information, vastly out-of-date surveying and in some cases using only large-scale charts.

The reaction of the local citizens in such places reflected the lack of such contact over a considerable period of time. HMAS Wewak was greeted on entry by flotillas of dug-out canoes skilfully paddled by locals whose ages ranged from six to 60.

However the majority of these curious spectators were children. Dozens of these canoes were in the vicinity of the ship from daybreak until dusk.

HMAS Wewak’s primary task was beach surveying for potential landing sites, but she had also had the good fortune to be carrying 600kg of clothes collected by Rotary in Cairns for distribution to the people of the Solomons.

In addition, the ship’s welfare fund had purchased 350 miniature, clip-on koalas bearing the ANF for distribution to the children encountered on the deployment.

These proved to be immensely popular and the donations of clothes from the generous people of Cairns were very well received.

In most cases the clothes were handed over to local hospitals and schools for distribution, but in some cases delivery was taken from the bow door directly into the canoes of the people.

These tasks proved greatly rewarding for HMAS Wewak’s ship’s company, meeting and greeting and being accompanied everywhere by throngs of local youngsters every time the ship’s boat was launched, with beachings becoming somewhat of a celebratory event for the locals and ship’s company alike.

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