Governor of Victoria at Pacific Island Regiment beating the retreat (DPR/TV1126)

The Governor of Victoria, Major-General Sir Rohan Delacombe, KCMG, KVCO, KBE, CB, K.St.J., was the guest of honour at a Beating Retreat ceremony by Pipes and Drums of 1 Battalion, the Pacific islands Regiment (PIR), at Taurama Barracks , near Port Moresby on Friday 27 June 1969. Sir Rohan was on a private visit to Papua New Guinea (PNG), accompanied by the Guard Commander, Major J Devitt, the Officer Commanding 'A' Company (Coy) and Commanding Officer of 1 PIR. Lieutenant-Colonel (Lt Col) M B Pears. Sir Rohan inspected the Guard, drawn from 'A' Coy, and talked with the Pacific Island soldiers. He also inspected the Pipers and Drummers, accompanied by Lt-Col Pears and the band master, Warrant Officer Jamie Whitecross. Warrant Officer Whitecross, who previously served with the Argyll and Sunderland Highlanders, joined the PIR in 1957 as a Pipe Major. Before the Beating the Retreat, the commander of the Army's PNG Command, Brigadier R T Eldridge, presented the Regiment with the PNG Command Pipe Banner, which is carried on ceremonial occasions on the big drones of the Great Highland Bagpipes. Eleven other banners have been presented to the regiment, and these are held in custody by the Pipes and Drums of 1 and 2 Battalions. 1 PIR now holds seven of these. the banner was attached to the pipes of the Pipe major, Sergeant jock Peni, From Marshall Lagoon. the official party, which included the Regiment's Honorary Colonel and Administrator of the Territory, Colonel D O Hay, then watched the pipers and drummers go through their paces in the ancient ceremony of Beating Retreat.