Sir Pita Simogun ( – 11 April 1987) was a

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

n policeman, farmer and politician. He served as a member of the

Legislative Council A legislative council is the legislature, or one of the legislative chambers, of a nation, colony, or subnational division such as a province or state. It was commonly used to label unicameral or upper house legislative bodies in the Brit ...

from 1951 to 1961 and then as a member of the

House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible g ...

from 1964 to 1968, during which time he was also Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Police.

Biography

Simogun was born in Bargedem in

East Sepik East Sepik is a province in Papua New Guinea. Its capital is Wewak. East Sepik has an estimated population of 450,530 people (2011 census) and is 43,426 km square in size. Its density is 10.4 people per square kilometer. History Cherubim ...

around 1900, the son of Haletuo and Yesmari.Simogun, Sir Pita (1900–1987)
Australian Dictionary of Biography His parents both died while he was young, and he moved to a copra plantation at

Salamaua Salamaua () was a small town situated on the northeastern coastline of Papua New Guinea, in Salamaua Rural LLG, Morobe province. The settlement was built on a minor isthmus between the coast with mountains on the inland side and a headland. The c ...

with his adopted parents. He had no formal education, but joined the

Territory of New Guinea The Territory of New Guinea was an Australian-administered League of Nations and then United Nations trust territory on the island of New Guinea from 1914 until 1975. In 1949, the Territory and the Territory of Papua were established in an adm ...

police force around 1930.Peter Simogun: The story of 'a man of consequence'
''Pacific Islands Monthly'', May 1981, pp51–53 He initially served in the

Kokopo Kokopo is the capital of East New Britain Province in Papua New Guinea. It is administered under Kokopo/Vunamami Urban LLG. The capital was moved from Rabaul in 1994 when the volcanoes Tavurvur and Vulcan erupted. As a result, the population o ...

and

Rabaul Rabaul () is a township in the East New Britain province of Papua New Guinea, on the island of New Britain. It lies about to the east of the island of New Guinea. Rabaul was the provincial capital and most important settlement in the province ...

area, before being transferred to Talasea. He rose to become a lance corporal by 1935 and a sergeant by 1939, when he was posted to his home district of

Wewak Wewak is the capital of the East Sepik province of Papua New Guinea. It is on the northern coast of the island of New Guinea. It is the largest town between Madang and Jayapura. It is the see city (seat) of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Wewak. ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

he was part of the group of Wewak residents led by

Bert Jones Bertram Hays Jones (born September 7, 1951) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for the Baltimore Colts and Los Angeles Rams. He was named the NFL Most Valuable Player ...

that walked to

Wau Wau may refer to: Places and jurisdictions Papua New Guinea * Wau, Papua New Guinea * Wau Airport (Papua New Guinea) * Wau Rural LLG, (local level government) South Sudan * Wau State, South Sudan * Wau, South Sudan, city * Wau railway s ...

. He stayed in

Goroka Goroka is the capital of the Eastern Highlands Province of Papua New Guinea. It is a town of approximately 19,000 people (2000), above sea level. It has an airport (in the centre of town) and is on the " Highlands Highway", about from Lae in Mor ...

before being transferred to

Port Moresby (; Tok Pisin: ''Pot Mosbi''), also referred to as Pom City or simply Moresby, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea. It is one of the largest cities in the southwestern Pacific (along with Jayapura) outside of Australia and New ...

where he served as a drill instructor. In 1942 he began service as a

coastwatcher The Coastwatchers, also known as the Coast Watch Organisation, Combined Field Intelligence Service or Section C, Allied Intelligence Bureau, were Allied military intelligence operatives stationed on remote Pacific islands during World War II ...

and was dropped off near Cape Orford by an American submarine in April 1943. Between October 1943 and April 1944 his party switched to guerrilla operations, with Simogun leading attacks on the Japanese, only losing two of his men while killing around 260 Japanese soldiers. His service resulted in the award of the

British Empire Medal The British Empire Medal (BEM; formerly British Empire Medal for Meritorious Service) is a British and Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth award for meritorious civil or military service worthy of recognition by the Monarchy of the United Ki ...

. Following the war, he returned to the police,Vale, June 1987
PNGAA before settling in Urip village in 1948. He restarted the village coconut plantation, founded a Rural Progress Society to encourage rice growing, set up his own plantation and worked a truck driver. He also oversaw the building of a new coastal road, later named after him as the Sir Pita Simogun Highway, and established But-Boiken Local Government Council in 1956, serving as its president. He married three times and had eleven children. In

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the Uni ...

he was selected as one of the three nominated indigenous members of the new Legislative Council. He was reappointed in

1954 Events January * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown–IBM experiment: The first public demonstration of a machine translation system is held in New York, at the head ...

1957 Events January * January 1 – The Saarland joins West Germany. * January 3 – Hamilton Watch Company introduces the first electric watch. * January 5 – South African player Russell Endean becomes the first batsman to be Dismissal (cricke ...

and

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Janu ...

. Prior to the 1961 general elections he joined the United Progress Party, but failed to be elected from the New Guinea mainland constituency. He contested the Wewak-Aitape Open seat in the 1964 general elections and was elected to the new House of Assembly. Following the elections, he was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Police.First Under-Secretaries Are Best Of The Bunch
''Pacific Islands Monthly'', July 1964, p47 He served in the legislature until the 1968 elections. In 1967, he joined an oil palm settlement scheme, taking the lease of several plots of land in

West New Britain West New Britain is a province of Papua New Guinea on the islands of New Britain. The provincial capital is Kimbe. The area of the province is 20,387 km2 with a population of 264,264 as of the 2011 census. The province's only land border is ...

, with most of the population of Urip following him. In the

1971 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1971 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were announced in supplements to the ''Lon ...

he was awarded an MBE, and he was knighted in the

1981 Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours 1981 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The appointments were made to celebrate ...

. He returned to Urip in the 1980s and died in Boram Hospital in

in April 1987 at the age of 87.Sir Pita Simogun
''Pacific Islands Monthly'', June 1987, p50 He was buried with full military honours in the army cemetery at Moem Barracks.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Simogun, Pita Papua New Guinean police officers Papua New Guinean farmers Members of the Legislative Council of Papua and New Guinea Members of the House of Assembly of Papua and New Guinea Papua New Guinean Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Papua New Guinean recipients of the British Empire Medal Papua New Guinean Knights Bachelor 1987 deaths Year of birth uncertain