Category: WWII

World War II carrier wreckage found

Admin - February 15, 2019

Remains of the USS Hornet. Photo: RV Petrel. Researchers have discovered the wreckage of World War two aircraft carrier USS Hornet inside Solomon Island ... Read More

People

Ministry of Culture and Tourism urged to clarify stand on war relics

Admin - January 4, 2019

WW2 Japanese aircraft wrecks salvaged at Balalae Shortland islands. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Director of Culture have been urged to clarify ... Read More

Guadalcanal Province

Feeling stressed? Hug a tree.

Admin - June 27, 2018

The Memorial Garden Are you feeling tired, overworked and need a place where you can breathe fresh oxygen and hug a tree? Well maybe not ... Read More

Solomon Islands

Fear World War II relics might never return

Admin - June 26, 2018

Japanese cannons at the open-air Vilu War Museum at Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands AAPIMAGE There is concern that recently extracted World War II relics at Balalae ... Read More

Guadalcanal Province

World War Two records inscribed in Asia and Pacific register

Admin - June 20, 2018

Photo: Vilu War Museum World War Two records kept at the National Archives of Solomon Islands have been inscribed in the Memory of the World ... Read More

Honiara City

Police destroy dangerous projectile near White River market

Admin - February 20, 2018

An EOD officer inspecting the projectile. The Police Explosive ordnance disposal,EOD, team this morning destroyed a US 5 inch MK35 High explosive projectile near the ... Read More

People

‘Unsung WWII hero’ Aubrey Kirkpatrick dies at 102

Admin - February 16, 2018

Kirkpatrick after his service in the Pacific Those who knew Aubrey Kirkpatrick describe him as an unsung war hero and a regular at the Grand Ole ... Read More

HISTORY

The Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation was established by an Act of Parliament – The Broadcasting Ordinance 1976.
It was established to provide a high quality broadcasting service, by radio, of a wide range of programs for the information, education and entertainment of all people living in the sovereign borders of the Independent State of Solomon Islands.

Radio broadcasting was established by US military forces in the British Solomon Islands Protectorate (BSIP) during World War Two. In 1944, the Armed Forces Radio Service (AFRS) developed small, mediumwave stations at Lunga on Guadalcanal and Munda, New Georgia. These were designed to provide information and entertainment to the hundreds of thousands of US service personnel then based in the BSIP. The stations were part of the Mosquito Network, a loose network of similar AFRS stations stretching through the South-West Pacific, from Bougainville in the north to Auckland in the south, and including outlets in Espiritu Santo and Noumea.

As the Pacific war moved northwards, the AFRS stations closed and BSIP listeners returned to tuning to broadcast programmes from Australia or further afield for entertainment and information. In 1946, a rudimentary weekly half hour of news and service bulletins was established by the BSIP Administration. The service was transmitted from Honiara on regular inter-island radio frequencies using Government transmission equipment and soon developed a regular following.

By 1952, the broadcasts were on a much stronger footing and the Solomon Islands Broadcasting Service (SIBS), an arm of the Government, was established. In 1976, new legislation converted the SIBS into the Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation (SIBC), a totally independent public service broadcaster charged with providing national radio coverage and a full range of news, educational and entertainment services.