For several years now, I’ve been trying to contact anyone who might know anything about the late Captain William (Bill) Thomas Kelly Howard, a friend of Dads, who died in 2018.

Captain Bill was from Bundaberg and was the captain of several Papua New Guinea Administration trawlers in the 1950s through to the 1970s, including MV Laurabada II, later renamed MV Lahara when the original Laurabada was recommissioned.

My father told me stories of Captain Bill's life, which I hope to retell in a book, thus my interest in finding out all I can about him.

Laurabada II (later renamed Lahara)

The Laurabada photo in your 31 March post is of the original and famous HMS Laurabada, initially decommissioned in 1951.

Subsequently, MV Laurabada II (the one captained by Captain Bill was named after the decommissioned HMS Laurabada.

But in 1964, after Ivan Champion recommissioned the original HMS Laurabada, MV Laurabada II was renamed MV Lahara.

At one point, no less than three vessels named Laurabada were sailing around PNG - the third being a sailing ketch.

This caused me much confusion and dead-ends when I was researching which Laurabada my father was on when he met Captain Bill (though I did know it was a motorboat).

I have attached the only images I’ve been able to find of the MV Laurabada II, later renamed MV Lahara.

I wait in hope that one of your readers may have a story or two about Captain Bill and can contact me via Post A Comment or by emailing me here.

The Late Onemai Tabua
| From Frances Filewood

I am located in the Torres Strait, Australia, and I’m a direct descendant of Onemai Tabua. My family is from the Billy family of Damud and Masig/Yorke Islets. I am eager to make contact with our families, specifically on Daru Island and in Port Moresby. I’d like to meet and discuss our ancestors’ case for returning Onemai Tabua home to Fiji. Email me here 

A lesson to PNG from Vanuatu
| From Scott Hamilton

AUCKLAND, NZ - I want to mention Wouter Veenendaal's 2021 article, How Instability Creates Stability, which explains the success of Vanuatu's democracy and the Melanesianisation of its Westminster system. I found the research really useful in understanding politics in Vanuatu - and I suspect there are parallels to some extent with PNG. It was published in Third World Quarterly but the author has republished it here at Taylor & Francis Online for free

Dr Hamilton (pictured) has published books and essays about British socialism, Tongan art, kava drinking and New Zealand history. He wrote The Stolen Island with the help of a D'Arcy Literary Residency. He contributes regularly to the online arts journal Eyecontact and to blogs at www.readingthemaps.blogspot.co.nz

Upgrades for NBC Bougainville
| From Martin Hadlow

SAMFORD VALLEY, QLD - According to the Post-Courier newspaper, the National Broadcasting Corporation’s radio station at Buka in Bougainville has commissioned major infrastructure upgrades. The NBC is commissioning a 50-meter transmission tower, a two kilowatt FM transmitter, a 60 kilowatt generator and a four-door Toyota Landcruiser.