DEVOTION TO DUTY

Press, Volume LXXIX, Issue 23996, 10 July 1943, Page 4

DEVOTION TO DUTY

FIJIAN DECORATED From Our Own Correspondent SUVA, June 8. Advice has been received in Fiji that His Majesty the King has been graciously pleased to approve the award of the British Empire Medal (Military Division) to Private Ramelusi Druma, of the Ist Battalion, Fiji Labour Corps, for an act of conspicuous bravery and devotion to duty. One day in December. 1942, Private Ramelusi was employed as a winchman lifting salvage cargo from a barge to ,a ship on the open sea. One of the items lifted was a mobile repair van weighing about 15 tons, and during operations this vehicle broke away from control and swayed wildly from side to side as the ship rolled. With utter disregard for his own life and safety, Private Ramelusi remained at his winch, ducking down as the heavy vehicle swayed over his head. He gradually lowered the van until it was just level with the hatch combings and, seizing his own opportunity, lowered it into the hold where it could be secured. Had he left his winch, it is certain that the gear- could not have stood the strain for any length of time and had the vehicle fallen onto the barge, it is probable that loss of life would have been caused as well as damage to the barge and the cargo it was carrying. Also, had the van fallen on the ship, serious damage would have been caused.