Biographical entry: Bunga (1910 - 1971)

Born
1910
Died
May 1971

Details

Bunga was born in north Malaita in 1910 and was first noticed in 1922 by Sergeant Jacob Vouza (q.v.), when, as head labourer on Liapari plantation in the Western District, he was arrested for killing a cow. He was sent to Tulagi, but not to prison, and was given the task of beating the drum used to give time signals for the capital. He joined the police in about 1925 and served at both Tulagi, and at Aola on Guadalcanal, marrying a wife from near the latter. He was awarded the British Empire Medal in 1946 and served as Station Sergeant at Auki from 1950 to 1953, when he retired to Rere on Guadalcanal. James Tedder (q.v.) remembered Bunga as short (about 152 centimetres tall), bushy haired and vigorous, with the voice of a Sergeant-Major. His wife died in the mid-1960s and he remarried in 1968. He was Government Headman for Valasi Longgu for eleven years and was elected a member of the Guadalcanal Council (1963-1964). Bunga died of cancer in May 1971. Tedder described him as 'a strict disciplinarian, a most efficient station sergeant and a wonderful friend'. He was survived by his wife, two children and a number of grandchildren. (NS 30 May 1971; Tedder 2008, 25)

Related Concepts

Published resources

Books

  • Tedder, James L.O., Solomon Islands Years: A District Administrator in the Islands, 1952-1974, Tuatu Studies, Stuarts Point, NSW, 2008. Details

Journals

  • British Solomon Islands Protectorate (ed.), British Solomon Islands Protectorate News Sheet (NS), 1955-1975. Details