1950s: The Scrap Metal Market
Postwar, there was a huge demand for raw materials and metals worldwide. In Japan, the post-war reconstruction required huge resources. Ironically, war surplus from New Guinea was sold back to the Japanese, melted down into raw aluminum. Also, the outbreak of the Korean War was another stimulus.
Expatriates returning New Guinea found the scrap metal business easy money. They melted wartime material for aluminium, copper and brass. Scrappers operated in in all the major areas where the war left significant debris, primarily the Allied bases at Port Moresby, Dobodura and Nadzab, plus former Japanese bases at Wewak and Rabaul. For those involved in this lucrative enterprise, they began to generate huge profits.
Don Robinson adds:
"From 1952 to 1962, I operated a transport in Rabaul. We transported
all of the scrap out of Rabaul, including hundreds of Japanese planes cut up for scrap. They were sold back to Japan to make cars. It was so common, I took no photos."
Robert Curtis adds:
"I was district agricultural officer in Bougainville 1957 to 1962, stationed
at Kubu above Buka Airstrip. Many aircraft were recovered in and around Buka Airstrip
and melted down for scrap metal in a portable crucible during 1958-59."
War Surplus Material Act
In 1952, the New Guinea colonial government enacted the War Surplus Materials Act to regulate
scrapping activities, and generate money for the government from wartime
debris. The legislation did three major things: 1) declared that the state owned all wartime materials 2) required salvagers to seek government permission to gain access to wartime materials, an pay fees for these permits or privileges 3) Compensate local landowners for access to their land and removal of items. This Act remains the main piece of legislation related to war relics to this day.
John Van Duis - Confessions of An Aircraft Scrapper interview with aircraft scrapper at Nadzab and Dobodura in late 1940s.
Next Decade: 1960s: Interest Awakens
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