Santa and his helpers, including COMD PMG Brigadier Justin Kelly, visited all of the team sites on Christmas Day. Photo by CAPT Rachel Leal.

For the seven RAAF members of the Peace Monitoring Group who spent Christmas in Bougainville, it was a scorcher. While it is always hot in PNG, the seasonal weather brought thoughts of home.

PMG members in locations around Bougainville shared the Christmas spirit with the local community. The Combined Health Element put together a choir, which sang carols at a church service in the nearby town of Arawa. They sang in two languages - English and Tok Pisin.

The multi-denominational service was led by Padre Noel Boyce, who said, 'While the main role of the padres deployed on OP BEL ISI is to provide spiritual support to the members of the PMG, it is always a wonderful opportunity to celebrate such a special time of the year with people who have such different traditions and culture to our own.'

The choir was ably backed up by the Australian Army Band (Melbourne), which deployed for two weeks on OP BEL ISI to bring some Christmas cheer to the troops.
The band performed at all of the team sites around Bougainville and put on a series of concerts for local communities. While some songs went down well with the locals, songs like Dragon's 'April Sun in Cuba' left them scratching their heads.

Christmas Day was a day of rest for the men and women, who were served non-alcoholic 'wine' by the contingent's warrant officers and their meals by the officers, including COMD PMG, Brigadier Justin Kelly. The meal was a credit to the caterers, who produced hot and cold meals that reminded everyone of home.

The afternoon saw most take a well earned nap to recover from their Christmas excesses or to take a second look at presents that had arrived from loved ones.

Boxing Day
Boxing Day saw the inaugural PMG Cup cricket test played, contested by teams made up from the PMG. Playing for a beautiful trophy, courtesy of the Navy's Minesweeper Auxiliary Brolga, the Internationals narrowly beat the Dinosaurs in the round robin grand final match.

Team sites around Bougainville held their own Christmas and New Year celebrations, bringing in the new millennium with the help of the local communities.

Head Defence Personnel Executive Major-General Simon Willis visited all of the team sites over the Christmas period to spend time with those on deployment to Bougainville.

New Year's Eve
At the Logistic Support Team in Loloho, the attention was on 171 Operational Support Squadron, which ran the afternoon's entertainment - the Beercan Regatta. The event's ironic title was a reflection on the 'dry' status of OP BEL ISI.

Teams from the PMG built seagoing craft (not all of them seaworthy) to compete in the challenging watercourse.

171 Sqn's 'Hammer of Thor' craft was very impressive with 26 members on board, but their winning lead was dashed when they had to withdraw mid-race and respond to a casevac.

With the 171 crew out of the race the movers came through and took the finishing line in style. The movers used their skills admirably by having two members paddling on the craft, with another two kicking behind, propelling the raft forward. At strategic intervals the swimmers did a relay change with two others and powered to the finish.

The caterers came through again for dinner, with a New Zealand-style hangi (a pig and vegetables cooked in the ground) and seafood feast on the water's edge. After dinner the band kicked off the night's entertainment, giving the members of the PMG a chance to relax and enjoy themselves.

The crowd counted down the seconds to midnight and celebrated the arrival of the New Year with much balloon-popping and singing of Ald Lang Sine. As with other members serving on operations around the world, the members serving on OP BEL ISI ushered in the new millennium in a unique way that they will always remember.

By CAPT Lorraine Mulholland