All business from the goldfields at Bulolo and Edie Creek was sent by a native runner to Salamoa, then by sea to Morobe, and then to Rabaul. AWA was asked to set up a radio station to make communication easier for the new mining community at Edie Creek; thus Bulolo Radio was established.
Bulolo is situated approximately 2000 metres above sea level, inland from Salamoa and Lae, in the highlands of New Guinea. The native population had rarely seen Europeans and cannibalism was still rife, with some prospectors and many native carriers being killed in their attempts to reach the goldfields. Even seasoned miners, who had been working in the tropics for long periods, found the trail to Bulolo an exhausting and wearisome trip. Many of the new prospectors were not even seasoned miners, but had been sent from their office desks by gold prospecting companies. They hired native labour to carry heavy loads through the jungle; some labourers died on the way, many got sick, and even more deserted.
Tough conditions required rugged individuals - as can be seen in this
picture of CC Beckett, relaxing at Bulolo Radio, c. 1928-30
One radio operator described the conditions these early prospectors faced: 'The climate was damnable, not a dry spot to pitch camp - rain, rain, incessant rain, never a sight of sun through the heavy scrub and the only means of communication being per boot to Salamoa over a rough mountain pad, up and down mountains, fording icy cold creeks, days when one's feet never touched solid ground, always walking on roots and decayed vegetation three to six feet in depth, dysentery, tropical sores, scanty food supplies'.
Setting up a radio station in such an inhospitable location was a difficult task. The wireless equipment had to be stored in 17 kilogram packs for the trek to Bulolo; the larger items were carried, slung on poles, by two natives. The wireless set required 74 carriers alone.
Four police boys accompanied the radio operator and a prospector on the long trek into the Highlands. During the arduous journey many native carriers deserted, many more had sore feet or were sick, and a relay system of carriers had to be set up to carry the supplies and equipment.
After months of toil, the party finally reached Edie Creek.
The original station was established in a small tent and began operating on 18 November, 1926. Traffic was routed to Morobe Radio but, because of local storms and atmospheric interference, much of the work had to be done from 6.30-8.30 am. When Salamoa station opened in July 1927, communication from Bulolo was redirected to Salamoa.
In 1928, a new transmitter was installed at Bulolo and a new budding constructed. The original site was found to be an alluvial flat, so the radio station was sited on higher ground above the goldfield. Direct communication was now possible from Bulolo to Rabaul, but the payment for messages sent by prospectors was still in gold dust.
The new wireless hut being erected at Bulolo, 1928
In January 1932, a new station was erected at Wau, only a day's walk from Edie Creek. When an airfield opened in Wau during 1927, the government administration and mining companies moved their offices to the town. Bulolo Radio remained as an outstation.
Despite the rough and ready nature of Bulolo in the early days, it had become quite civilised by the 1930s. A tennis club had opened, there was less of the brawling and drunkenness of earlier times, and the climate had become more tolerable following extensive tree clearing in the area.
There is, however, no doubt that Bulolo was an exceptional posting; the men who worked there were more than radio operators, they were pioneers and adventure-seekers.
Bulolo was evacuated in January 1942, when the Japanese invaded New Guinea; it did not re-open.
