203 WWII bombs destroyed
Diamantina rids islands of shells

AB Troy Donaldson received a big welcome home hug from his two-year-old daughter, as HMAS Diamantina returned to Sydney late last month after a stint in the Solomons.

CO of HMAS Diamantina LCDR Peter Bartlett. The ship’s company helped to rid parts of the Solomons from unexploded WWII ordnance.

Maritime Commander, RADM Rowan Moffitt presents POMT Brian Rieusset with his Solomon Islands Clasp.

Photos: ABPH Helen Frank

By Graham Davis

When members of the ship’s company of HMAS Diamantina (LCDR Peter Bartlett) went into the Solomons village of Sasavele they noticed children throwing a ball against a wall.

Problem was it wasn’t a ball but World War II hand grenade.

“We swapped it for some toys,” LCDR Bartlett told Navy News when Diamantina returned home last month.

On another occasion the ordnance destruction experts carried on his ship offered to destroy a WW II bomb which lay in a garden plot.

“We cleared the people well out of range.

The explosion made a hole just under two metres deep.”

In all, Diamantina’s six clearance divers/explosives experts destroyed 230 pieces of WW II ordnance ranging from 5-inch shells, to bombs, to hand grenades.

“We did four tasks such as this. In many places the ordnance is just lying around,” he said.

The ordnance removal by Diamantina is part of an ongoing volunteer program by the RAN to improve safety for the people of the Solomons during Operation Anode deployments.

“About four years ago one old device did detonate.

Luckily no-one was hurt,” he remarked.

Ordnance destruction was just one of the unusual jobs carried out by the coastal minehunter during her six weeks on station.

At Taro the sailors found the generator at the local hospital was faulty and the Xray machine didn’t work.

“Our people repaired both,” LCDR Bartlett said.

“The hospital caters for 26,000 people,” he added.

LCDR Bartlett told of the incidents when he and his ship’s company of 43 returned home on September 23.

The Maritime Commander, RADM Rowan Moffitt and the Minister for Small Business and local Federal Member, Mr Joe Hockey and a small crowd, welcomed the ship home.

“Diamantina has done a great job,” RADM Moffitt said.

“She has made a quality contribution to RAMSI in the Solomons.”

 

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