8th Field Survey Squadron


8 Field Survey Squadron was a unit of the Australian Army and the Royal Australian Survey Corps, being raised in December 1971 at Popondetta, Territory of Papua New Guinea and disbanded twenty-four years later on 1 December 1995 in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. The Squadron's role was to provide geodetic surveys, survey control for topographic mapping, map compilation, identification/spot and supplementary air photography and field completion of compiled maps. It also supported the PNG Defence Force and provided advice to PNG National Mapping Bureau on all aspects of survey and mapping.
The unit was based at Popondetta, then Wewak and then Port Moresby. Although based in these towns, the unit operated across the entire country from the border with Indonesia in the west to Bougainville in the east. The squadron served full-time in PNG from it being a Territory of Australia, to self government in December 1973, to Independence on 16 September 1975 and then for another 20 years. After Independence the survey and mapping assistance was under the auspices of Australia's Defence Cooperation Program.
Unit accommodation at Popondetta in the Northern District was in the recently vacated District Engineers Office which had moved to Mendi in the Southern Highlands. When the unit moved to Wewak in July 1975 it was accommodated in Moem Barracks on Cape Moem, the home of the 2nd Battalion, Pacific Islands Regiment. With the 1:100,000 mapping programme complete in 1980, the unit then moved to Port Moresby.
Like any military unit there were often miscellaneous tasks to be done. Popondetta is located between Kokoda and the Gona-Sanananda-Buna Second World War battlefield sites and large airbase complexes around Dobodura. The unit was often called upon to assist with Explosive Ordnance Demolition tasks in those areas. Mount Lamington, a volcano which exploded in 1951 killing more than 3000 people up to 14km away, is 20km south-west of Popondetta. One of the daily duties of the Squadron was to observe the vertical angle, by theodolite, to the mountaintop to compute any apparent change in height. Results were reported to the Rabaul Vulcanology Observatory.

Unit structure and its people

8 Fd Svy Sqn was raised at Popondetta in December 1971 with an establishment of two officers and eighteen other ranks. The first parade at full strength was 19 January 1972. The establishment increased in the next few years with an average of three officers and twenty-five other ranks from 1973 to 1980. The establishment reduced to five all ranks when the squadron moved from Wewak to Port Moresby.
Officers Commanding
Two 8 Fd Svy Sqn officers, Major Alex Laing and Lieutenant Simon Lemon, were later promoted Colonel and appointed Army Headquarters Director of Survey and Head of Royal Australian Survey Corps.
Four members of the squadron were awarded the PNG Independence Medal.
Postings for single and married male soldiers with families were normally for one and two years respectively. For most wives and families, life there especially in the very tropical and small town Popondetta was something which they had never experienced before and pre-arrival information did not quite cover reality. There were few of the conveniences and supports of home, but they formed their own groups and integrated with the community which was essential during the long and frequent absences of their surveyor soldiers.

Background

During the Second World War, Australian and United States Army survey units produced nearly 400 surveyed maps for military operations in Papua, New Guinea, New Britain, New Ireland and Bougainville. The end of the war saw the cessation of most topographic surveys, except for economic development projects, although it was known that there were large areas where mapping was terribly inadequate with errors of tens of miles in position and thousands of feet in height. Many aircraft were lost during the war because of the state of air charting. From the mid-1950s surveys of PNG were once again a high priority for the Australian Government. RA Svy conducted surveys with Australia based units in conjunction with US forces in the mid-1950s and with the Australian Division of National Mapping in the early-mid-1960s. There remained a huge need for field survey and by the end of the 1960s Army decided to raise a new field survey unit to be based permanently in the Territory of Papua New Guinea. A large part of the unit's work was related to the dual purpose defence and civilian mapping programme of 278 scale 1:100,000 topographic line maps covering the entire country, large scale urban orthophotomaps and working with the Royal Australian Navy on beach surveys of much of the coastline. The scale 1:100,000 mapping programme was completed in 1980. Cartographically derived scale 1:250,000 Joint Operations Graphic – Ground and the companion JOG – Air were completed in 1982. In the 1970s up to 60% of the Royal Australian Survey Corps' capability was engaged on PNG surveys and mapping. 8 Fd Svy Sqn, assisted by 1, 2 and 4 Fd Svy Sqns, completed the geodetic and topographic surveys, acquired survey point identification/spot and supplementary air photography and field checked compiled/preliminary maps. All five field survey squadrons compiled maps on photogrammetric stereo-plotters using mainly Skai Piksa photography; and Army Survey Regiment photogrammetrically triangulated the air photography, compiled maps using photogrammetric stereo-plotters, cartographically completed and printed the maps, and cartographically derived and printed the JOG.
On 26 June 1980 the Australian High Commissioner for PNG presented a complete three volume Atlas of the maps in the 1:100,000 series to the Prime Minister of PNG, Sir Julius Chan. The preface to this atlas states, in part: “The Royal Australian Survey Corps during and since World War II has been engaged almost continuously upon a programme of Survey and Mapping in PNG. The work has been undertaken with the assistance and co-operation of all Arms and Services of the Australian Defence Force, Papua New Guinea Defence Force, members of the National Mapping Bureau PNG, Division of National Mapping Australia, Royal Engineers Survey, Royal Air Force, Army Map Service United States Army, United States Navy, United States Air Force and numerous expatriate civilians in PNG and PNG Nationals who assisted survey parties in the field on a variety of supporting tasks in the jungles, swamps and mountain peaks of their Country.…………………….. At a time when PNG is assuming a position of increasing prominence in the world and regional affairs, I hope this atlas of topographic maps will promote further understanding of the challenge of its environment and will contribute to the successful utilisation of its resources for the benefit of all its peoples and their neighbours".
Two cornerstones for the success of the survey and mapping programmes were the Geodetic Survey of Papua New Guinea and high altitude medium scale mapping photography, flown by No. 2 Squadron RAAF Canberra bombers on Operation Skai Piksa. Skai Piksa completed 90 percent of national coverage, mostly cloud free, in the first year 1973 and completed the task by the end of 1975. RA Svy topographic surveyors planned the photography flight lines and provided quality assessments to ensure that the photography met the high technical standards for the subsequent mapping processes. The Corps also acquired substitute photography in some cloud areas after Operation Skai Piksa.
The geodetic survey commenced with New Britain and New Ireland/New Hanover/New Britain/Green /Dyaul/Tabar/Lihir/Tanga/Anir Islands and the Duke of York group ship-to-shore triangulation surveys conducted jointly by New Guinea Field Survey Unit – RA Svy, raised for these operations with men mainly from Topographic Squadron, AHQ Survey Regiment, and US Army Map Service. These operations were particularly arduous, each being about 12 months long. The high order astronomic/triangulation/trilateration network through the Papua and New Guinea highlands was undertaken by Australia's Division of National Mapping 1962–1965. In 1962 and 1963 Topo Sqn AHQ Svy Regt undertook a high order coastal traverse around mainland Papua and New Guinea with intersections to the DNM highlands survey when the beacons were visible. The rapid progress of surveys in the 1960s would not have been possible if it was not for the technological development of the microwave electronic distance measurement man-portable system Tellurometer and using helicopters capable of positioning and resupplying survey parties on high altitude survey stations between 10,000 feet and 15,000 feet above sea level. In 1963 the Australian Government was very concerned about the land border with Indonesia and RA Svy used a new Radar Airborne Profile Recorder to map the border area. This required additional horizontal and vertical control such that height contours could be mapped. At the same time a US Air Force airborne High Frequency Ranging and Navigation trilateration network measuring long lines between ground stations connected Australia, Papua, New Guinea, New Britain, New Ireland and Buka to a wider South West Pacific Survey which linked to North America. All of these surveys contributed to the 1966 Australian geodetic network adjustment and the resulting coordinate set in the Australian Geodetic Datum 1966. In 1964, Topo Sqn AHQ Svy Regt undertook a three year program of topographic survey control for scale 1:100,000 mapping of a three degree longitude band east of the land border with Indonesia. Horizontal control was by trilateration network using a new airborne electronic distance measurement system, Aerodist Tellurometer MRC2, connected to the high order surveys established by RA Svy and DNM 1962 -1965. Mixed results were achieved with mapping photography of the border area in the 1960s. Control surveys for scale 1:100,000 mapping of the remainder of mainland PNG was taken up by Northern Command Field Survey Unit/1 Fd Svy Sqn mainly using Aerodist MRC2 in 1969 and 1970, and by 4 Fd Svy Sqn mainly using Aerodist Tellurometer MRB3 from 1972 to 1974. In 1970 a British Royal Engineer Survey Troop was attached to 1 Fd Svy Sqn. Vertical control for the mapping was a combination of trigonometric heighting, barometric heighting by helicopter, levelling with connections to sea level and WREMAPS II Airborne Profile Recorder. There are few countries in the world that present more challenging weather, terrain, vegetation, transport, living, communications, health and volcanic conditions for astronomic and terrestrial geodetic surveys than Papua New Guinea. Surveyors could be working and living on a beach, or in a mosquito infested lowlands grass and tree swamp in the morning and on a freezing cold mountaintop over 10,000 feet high in the afternoon.

Origins

Spain had visited eastern Papua New Guinea in 1545 and 100 years later the Dutch navigator Abel Tasman charted part of the north coast. By the turn of the 20th century Great Britain, Germany and France had produced coastal charts mainly for marine navigation for trade, commerce and exploration. Some charts included basic plans of key points around ports, coastal towns and plantations. In the First World War, Germany surrendered German New Guinea mandated in 1899, including New Britain, New Ireland and Bougainville to Australia and military surveyors and draughtsman as part of the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force worked as part of land administration of those places.
In the Second World War it was not until Japan attacked and captured Rabaul on New Britain on 23 January 1942 that much emphasis was placed on surveys and maps for military purposes in the Territories of Papua and New Guinea. Existing surveys and maps were mainly about government administration, mining, agriculture and forestry. A state of emergency was proclaimed on 27 January 1942 including the compulsory callup of civilians. The Army's New Guinea Force issued orders for raising a New Guinea Survey Section of twenty-five officers and men in March 1942, under the command of Lieutenant EC O'Reilly a New Guinea surveyor. The men were mainly 'old New Guinea hands', some of them being surveyors and members of the New Guinea Volunteer Rifles and others from the Queensland 49th Infantry Battalion Intelligence Section and some suitably qualified civilians. In early July 1942 the Survey Section was reinforced by a thirty-three man all volunteer group of the 3rd Aust Field Survey Company RAE from Victoria, retitled 2nd Aust Field Survey Section and Captain John Herridge appointed Officer Commanding. The section had field survey and draughting elements and limited one colour sun-dyeline printing, but most colour maps and larger print runs were sent to 2/1 Army Topo Svy Coy for rapid cartographic finalisation and printing. One of the original officers, Lieutenant Noel Owers a New Guinea surveyor, was given the tasks of surveys for installations and roads.
The Japanese landed at Gona-Buna on 21 July, had captured Kokoda on 29 July and were advancing in force towards Port Moresby. On 15 August, Owers and two sub-sections commenced the task of blazing a jeep road forward of Iiolo across the Owen Stanley Ranges to Kokoda as an alternate route to the footpath Kokoda Trail for supply of forward troops and evacuating the sick and wounded. On occasions the two survey parties had to evade the Japanese advance and surprised front-line Australian infantry patrols who were not aware that the surveyors were forward of them. After the Japanese were stopped within sight of Port Moresby at Ioribaiwa Ridge and the Australian advance started, the need for the road reduced as air transport improved, and the impossible task, at an impossible time, in impossible terrain was finally abandoned. That road has never been built. The work of Owers' parties was honoured by naming the intersection where his track departed from the mule track down to Uberi on the Kokoda Trail, as Owers Corner. The priority then changed to surveys and standard and special mapping for the advance through Kokoda and preparation for the assaults and defeat of the Japanese at Gona-Sanananda-Buna in early-1943. The other priority area was the Port Moresby Defence Area and the coastal strip south-east towards Milne Bay. The Section was again reinforced on 29 October with a draft of seventeen men from 3 Aust Fd Svy Coy RAE then at Gymp ie. It was not until near the end of 1942 that other Australian or American field survey units were sent to New Guinea with elements of 2/1 Aust Army Topographic Survey Company AIF and 3 Aust Fd Svy Coy AIF in Port Moresby and detachments deployed.
In January 1943 the section was retitled 8th Aust Field Survey Section AIF. In March a sub-section flew into Wau as part of Kanga Force remaining there for more than six months in direct support of the combat troops in the Wau-Bulolo-Salamaua areas. All methods of field survey were used, much based on the urgency of the need: astronomy, triangulation, theodolite and chain traverse, plane-tabling, compass traverse, levelling, trigonometric heighting, barometry, intersection of prominent features behind the enemy to improve artillery targeting. A narrow triangulation chain was carried from the astronomic datum at Wau, north through Bulolo into the Markham Valley in anticipation of the Australian attacks on Japanese held Lae. In October the sub-section was to be relieved and they walked out 110km to the south coast on the Wau-Bulldog road and then by steamer to Port Moresby. After sixteen months of active service 8 Aust Fd Svy Sect was absorbed as No 2 Field Section of 6th Aust Army Topographic Survey Company and moved to Australia. On 19 October 1943, General D MacArthur, Commander-in-Chief, South West Pacific Area, highly commended 2/1 Aust Army Topo Svy Coy AIF, 3 Aust Fd Svy Coy AIF, 69th US Engr Topo Coy and 8 Aust Fd Svy Sect AIF for their worthy efforts in supporting the campaigns: Kokoda, Milne Bay, Gona-Sanananda-Buna, Wau-Salamaua, Lae and the Huon Peninsula. "Great technical difficulties were surmounted in producing and distributing maps and photomaps covering more than twelve thousand square miles in time for operations, from combat type photography never before used in this theatre. Astronomic locations vital to the success of the other Allied mapping efforts were obtained under conditions of hardship and grave difficulties of transportation and, upon occasions, considerable risk. This untiring effort to provide the combat units with the maps needed when they were needed, from the material at hand, reflects great credit upon the officers and men of these organisations".

Operations

Standing procedure for marking survey stations, with exception where it was not practicable, was: a Royal Australian Survey Corps three-and-a-half inch bronze plaque, stamped with the station number and set in concrete at ground level oriented such that reading the mark while facing north; three recovery marks set in concrete at ground level spread around the horizon about five metres from the station mark; one two-and-a-half inch capped galvanised steel pipe 'witness post', painted white, protruding about one metre from the ground, about one metre north of the station mark. Station numbering was the prefix AA followed by three digits commencing with 500 allocated to 8 Fd Svy Sqn. This convention started with the 1962 high order traverse, for example AA001. Most stations were targeted with white or black plastic panels as crosses, black used on white sand beaches, for station identification on Wild RC10 air spot photography for transfer to the mapping photography.
1972
1973
1974
and the reference ellipsoid at that point. The Geoceiver antenna/preamplifier is off the tripod standing on the concrete in the background
1975
1976
1977
1978
1979
1980
1989 to 1994
All field survey operations would not have been possible without essential support of most other Army Corps, the Royal Australian Navy, PNGDF forces and civil charter fixed wing and helicopters for aerial survey work and transport.