Aitape is situated on a rocky headland overlooking the islands of Tunleo and Seleo, halfway along the 400 kilometre coastline between what was then the border of New Guinea and the Sepik River.
In 1931, the town had only six buildings and two Chinese trade stores. The radio station was built on a flat area between the muddy river and the beach, but the huge surf which raged from November to March meant the station was always damp. Operators also had to contend with plagues of mosquitos during the humid 'wet' season.
Aitape radio station and officers' dwelling quarters, 1931. (From the
AWA magazine, The Radiogram, Vol II, No 11, October 1931, p7.)
The station at Aitape was originally built to keep local administrators in touch with Government headquarters in Rabaul, but it later served as a communications centre for prospectors, outlying plantations and police outposts.
Early traffic was relayed to Rabaul via Manus Island, but in 1930 the equipment was updated and the station could communicate directly with Rabaul.
For station staff, life could be monotonous. The local administrators would often be away on Government business, but the radio operator was confined to base with little to do.
When the full contingent of settlers was in town, games of tennis could be played, but otherwise the main activities were bushwalking and oyster gathering. Stores were delivered from Sydney every three months.
When the local administration moved its headquarters to Wewak in 1936, the station at Aitape closed.
Operating room at Aitape Radio, 1931. (Photograph from the AWA magazine,
The Radiogram, Vol II, No 11, October 1931, p6.)
