Gerald Brown took employment in Port Moresby in 1936 working first in the Burns Philp butchery and freezer department and later as a clerk in the Lands Department. He was appointed Patrol Officer by the Papuan Administration in 1937. Gerald’s brother, Jack, was a Medical Assistant at the same time in Papua. Jack Brown later qualified as a doctor and practised in PNG. Gerald married Marjorie Kathleen Thom in Port Moresby on 31 January 1940. Their daughter, Helen, was born in February 1941. Both she and her mother were evacuated south in November 1941. Gerald was transferred into ANGAU and patrolled in Popondeta, Awala, Ilimo and Kokoda in March 1942. He was appointed Warrant Officer at Rigo in July 1942 and later promoted to Captain. He was at Awala in Aug 1942 when the Japanese landed there and was hospitalised in Port Moresby in September with malaria and malnutrition after 42 days in the mountains.

When civil administration was restored in PNG the family were reunited and Gerald resumed duty as an Inspector of Native Labour attached to the Headquarters of the newly formed Department of Labour in Madang. He was New Britain District Labour Officer based in Rabaul from March 1948 till December 1949. From July 1950 till January 1951 he was New Ireland District Labour Officer based in Kavieng. In 1951 Gerald was appointed senior Inspector of Labour in the Morobe District based in Lae and residing at Malahang nearby. The family remained in Lae where Helen contracted polio in 1958 and moved south with her mother. In 1959 Gerald was posted to Port Moresby where his wife, Marjorie joined him in 1960. Helen returned to Port Moresby in 1964 where she worked as a clerk in the Departments of Health and Trade & Industry. Gerald retired in May 1965 and moved south with Marjorie to the Central Coast of NSW.

Gerald Brown’s wartime papers, including his diary written at Popendetta, Awala, Ilimo and Kokoda, 21 Mar-27 Jul 1942. Brown’s personal files which include a copy of his report of his patrol in the Chirima Valley, Jun 1942, Dobuduru inspection reports, plantation and native labour surveys, Dec 1944-Jan 1945, Brown’s first monthly report from Dobuduru, Feb 1945, and many other documents relating to labour matters in PNG as well as Brown’s own career in the TPNG Department of Labour as an Inspector of Native Labour, 1946-1965. Brown’s correspondence with his brothers, Jack Brown, Medical Assistant, PNG, and Dermot Brown, 1936-1952. Photographs taken in Port Moresby, Rabaul, Kavieng, Malahang and Lae, 1937-1965.

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