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13 – British Pacific (1938 – 1947) (23 items)

[Fiji – British Western Pacific]: July 1938 – April 1943 [but some items still relate as far as 1947]

The following year Luke was offered the governorship of Mauritius, but refused on the understanding that he would be considered for the impending vacancy in Cyprus. This position subsequently went elsewhere, and in 1938 he became Governor of Fiji and High Commissioner in the Western Pacific.

Regretful at leaving the Mediterranean, Luke was none the less ‘thankful to be done’ with its embittered politics (Luke, Cities and Men, Volume 3, page 112). The Western Pacific had its own political problems, not least those posed by relations with the French. Tensions on this front eased when the administration in New Caledonia adhered to the Gaullist cause after June 1940, and Luke’s own Francophilia and savoir-faire assisted matters thereafter. Supervision of the local war effort did not stop Luke visiting every part of his hugely dispersed domain, except for remote Pitcairn Island. In June 1942 Luke resigned from his position. In thanking him for his services, the secretary of state for colonies highlighted the contribution he had played in preparing Malta for the present ordeal of war” (Holland)


Luke was a DLitt of Oxford in 1938

Luke was promoted to KCMG in 1939

Retirement from [official] Colonial Service

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