Gurkhas join PIR at PNG patrol DPR/TV/861

Thirteen Gurkha soldiers and a British Gurkha officer recently took part in a training exercise in Papua-New Guinea with members of the 1st Battalion, Pacific Islands Regiment. The Gurkhas, members of the 7th Duke of Edinburgh's Own Gurkha Rifles, spent six weeks in Papua-New Guinea with the Pacific Islands Regiment. The two regiments have been allied since 1954, and a system of exchanging officers has operated since 1963, but this was the first time that Gurkha troops had visited the Territory. One of the most important phases of the training visit was a 70-mile patrol. The patrol covered an area from Tari, in Papua-New Guinea's Southern Highlands, to Nomad River, in the Western District. It took the troops over mountainous country covered with dense primary rain forest. Led by Second Lieutenant Phillip Joyce from Newcastle, NSW, commander in "A" Company of the 1st Battalion, Pacific Islands Regiment, and the Gurkha officer, Second Lieutenant Paul Gay, from Plymouth, England, the 30-man patrol left for Tari by RAAF Caribou transport aircraft from Port Moresby's Jackson's Airport. At Tari they were welcomed by the Assistant District Commissioner, Mr Lyle Hanson, from Rockhampton, Queensland, and a group of local villagers who showed particular interest in the Gurkhas' khukris. The patrol then moved out to climb across the mountain range to Nomad where they were airlifted by another Caribou back to Port Moresby and their base at Taurama Barracks, home of 1st Battalion, Pacific Island Regiment which is acting as hosts for the Gurkhas' visit. The 70 mile patrol was just part of six weeks hard training for the visiting Gurkha soldiers. (Also identified: Sergeant Bob Hann of Collie, WA; Gurkha Color-Sergeant Kumarsing Rai, Nepal; Flight Officer Bob May of South Windsor, NSW)