Ron Michael was among the many people taking part in the Remembrance Day Memorial Service at the National War Memorial in Veiuto yesterday.

Mr Michael arrived from Australia to be part of the day’s events.

He served within the Royal Fiji Military Forces, along with prominent figures and worked as the as ADC (aide-de-camp) to then Governor of Fiji, Sir Kenneth Maddocks in 1959

“I was selected from the New Zealand Army as a ADC to the Governor of Fiji in 1959 and I was 23-years-old at that time. I spent a lot of time in the Government House for three years.

“Whilst here I wrote letters back to my mother in New Zealand and upon completing my term as ADC, I returned to New Zealand where my mother showed me a tin-full of letters that I wrote to her from Fiji. She encouraged me to write a book about it,” Mr Michael said.

He said he witnessed many events while being the ADC to the Governor at that time.

“The job was interesting, I met members of the royal family at that time and other prominent people in Fiji and around the world. When I first arrived in 1959 there was a riot in Suva that went on for three months and the following year was the sugar disturbance which went on for months,” Mr Michael said.

He said former President, Ratu Epeli Nailatikau served as ADC after his three-year term ended.

“We were all friends during those army days and this is a relationship that I have cherished over the years.

“We were like a family and there were few other prominent figures from the RFMF that I became close with,” Mr Michael said.

Edited by Jonathan Bryce

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