Three Mile Hill

Build a monument? Me!! You got to be kidding !! 1

Leonard said I could do it. It was to be a commemoration of the Kakoda Trail Battle of the second world war in PNG. It had to be completed in time for the 25th Anniversary of that battle and was to be sited beside the road on 3 mile hill. A prominent place for it, only about 40 miles from where the battle started all those years ago. Port Moresby would be full to the brim with tourists, ex-service people and officials from several countries. Leonard was Returned Servicemen's League [ R.S.L ] and was also one of the upper crust of the company for whom I worked.2

I had the chimbu labourers but would have to reduce the number working on this monument as it was about twelve foot long, four foot high and about three feet thick and twenty men would be far too many. I took the plans and went home. Tomorrow was another day and I would read up what was required of me tonight and check out the siting tomorrow.3

Tomorrow came all too soon. This monument was going to be a monster of a thing to construct. It was to have five brass plaques fastened to its face side after it was finished and therefore the face had to be smooth as a baby's bum so the plaques would sit properly. What a bugger, me, a flamin' carpenter and my workers untrained, being expected to build a lasting memorial to the heroes of the Kokoda Trail Campaign, both the soldiers and the "Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels who gave so much to help the Aussie Soldiers. Still I had their plans, so I measured the site and set it out roughly and made a list of what would be required and in what sequence.4

Kundu, yes, that same kundu, was there to have a look with me. He was going to be the boss boy on the project and as such needed to see what was expected of him. We had a good look at the proposed site, the angles the sun would strike it, the parking area which would be included and I made some rough sketches on a note pad. kundu was curious and asked me;5

" yu callim name belong dispela masta" 6

" all he call im memorial. Something to remember all those people who fought big fela fight against the Japanese. Long time before, long 1943 someting" Kundu looked at me a bit strangely. but said nothing else then. We left and got on with the normal jobs that were on the books for that day. 7

There was pressure from above about this project as it had international significance. I was called into the main office 'for discussions about the project' on Three Mile Hill. Oops, this was shaping up to be a political nightmare. When the top brass take an interest they all become experts in construction, design, and labour management. I began to wish I had gone to Antarctica instead of PNG..Oh well, must go and face the music.8

I took my notes and sketches with me, plus the plans and artists impression of what the finished article would maybe look like. The, er- - 'discussions' took up four hours of my working day and I knew that those workers on various sites would be waiting for my usual visits. I had arranged for a driver to pick up and deliver materials to various places and although the workers needed no actual help from me, my visits during the day always kept them settled and work progressing steadily. The 'discussions' provided me with nothing of any help at all.9

At the site I started to set out this damn monument. Plans, measurements, profiles, and string lines went everywhere as myself and two carpenters, Kundu and another labourer got things started.10

" me fela workim all same before, masta.' Kundu made a statement, not a question. I thought for a bit and then caught on.11

" yes, Kundu, all same before. Me workim first and yu fellers watch. then yu workim. True?"12

" me savvy, masta. All same before"13

To ensure stability we dug a trench around the base and poured concrete in it, reinforced so it wouldn't crack at a later time.14

I picked up the first of the stones and carefully lined it's face side with the string lines I had in place. I worked along the front of the monument doing the bottom row of stones very carefully. Embedding each stone in wet concrete and carefully wiping any spill over from the stone's face side. Kundu carried stones over from where the truck had left them. I stood back for a smoke and to rest my back and Kundu and his mate carried stones over and proceeded to line out the two ends and the back. Being just as careful as I had been on the front. I finished my smoke and started the next row up the front.15

"No Masta, em no good." Kundu never ever spoke out of turn so I asked;16

"What's wrong. Me workim up, that's all"17

" Masta, he got hole"18

"What hole?" I asked.19

" lookim, sapose you putim little stone in first, big stone sit down good."20

I looked and sure enough the stone I held would have left a small hole in the face with only grey concrete showing instead of stone with a thin joint between the stones. I turned to Kundu:21

"yu got savvy long him now, Kundu?"22

" masta, yu wait and Karda and me workim. Supose we bugger up yu can straight us."23

" Ok Kundu, yu workim and me wait"24

Thus Kundu and Karda put in the stones that would make the finished product attractive to look upon. They had to slope a little from the ground up for effect and had to have a flat finish for the plaques to fit when the stone and concrete was complete. Imagine a twelve foot by four foot face of coloured stone25

pieces, four foot thick at the base and three foot thick on top with five cast bronze discs depicting various aspects of the Kokoda Campaign pictured thereon.26

It took us a full day just to set out the base and put the first layer of stones in the right places. We went home content with our efforts. Next day we were disappointed to find that unknown nocturnal visitors had destroyed our profiles and we had to set them all out once again. this was going to be a long job at this rate. there must be a way of getting it done without having to reset the profiles every day. The experts from the office solved that by demanding that I have security on the site, that I work two shifts a day instead of one, and that I personally supervised the work. Great stuff. Bye bye to my 45 hours per week,27

my quiet evenings, and my time with my family.28

I made some rapid and considerable changes. Lights, food supplies for the workers and the security guys. Everyone got stuck into the job with venom to get it done quickly. It took only five days to finish. Amazing. PNG labourers are not known for their speed. The damn thing was complete and the facing surface was pretty good. All that was needed was the plaques and they had to come from the foundry in Australia. At least my bit was done.29

A week with about 40 workers relatively unsupervised meant a lot of catching up for me to do. I left Kundu and Karda to look after the monument during the day and the security guys took over at night. The next few weeks were very busy.I put the monument out of my mind and went on with life. I saw the stonework often in passing but had no need to stop so didn't.30

About a week before the big day of the commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the battle the plaques arrived with attendant workers from Australia to fix them to the stone work. I was not present while they did this but from the amount of gear that was on three mile hill I think they could have built the Taj Mahal in six weeks.31

Come the big day of the commemoration ceremony and everyone and his dog was there, except for me and Kundu. Flags everywhere, the damn road blocked off, uniforms of all sorts, bands and of course the politicians. Mid afternoon and the hot part of the day meant everyone had moved elsewhere to celebrate and/or reminisce. I took my boys to see what we had built in it's finished state.32

The damn thing looked pretty good. And so another little project was filed away as -- Done.33

PS. I do have a photo of this monument but as I am only a free member on SW, I can't put it up.34