Invasion Rabaul (41 page)

Authors: Bruce Gamble

BOOK: Invasion Rabaul

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In late 1945, after twice failing to meet the conditions set by Major Williams for a formal apology, Lieutenant General Tamura signed a memorandum that stated:
“Information of the loss of 1,053 Prisoners of War and Civilian Internees has not been forwarded to the Australian Authorities. This is a sheer dereliction on the part of this Bureau to have failed to advise the Australian Government on the subject in question. This Bureau sincerely expresses its deep regret and hereby tenders profound apology.”

If Tamura thought the apology would get him off the hook with the Australians, he was correct—but he did not go unpunished. The United States separately investigated his lack of cooperation with the Red Cross and sentenced him to eight years of hard labor.

I
N THE FINAL ANALYSIS, TWO POINTS SEEM INARGUABLE: THE
M
ONTEVIDEO
M
ARU
was torpedoed, and there were Australian prisoners aboard at the time. Both points, established through a variety of sources, are backed by multiple eyewitness accounts.

Ultimately, readers must decide for themselves what they believe regarding the disaster and the alleged conspiracies. Wherever the truth lies, the men who were lost must be allowed to rest in peace. Soon enough, their entire generation will exist only in memory.

NOTES

The following pages contain abbreviated citations to the various quotations and other references found in this book. A complete bibliography is provided separately. Most of the official documents, including reports issued by the Allied Translator and Interpreter Section (ATIS) and some Japanese records, were duplicated at the Australian War Memorial (AWM) in Canberra. Other important references, private diaries, and unpublished manuscripts were obtained from the Lark Force Association. Documents related to the USS
Sturgeon
were found at the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Maryland. The Japanese Monographs were copied at the Nimitz Library, U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland. The Albert F. Simpson Historical Research Center, Maxwell Air Force Base, Montgomery, Alabama, provided the U.S. Army Air Force materials. Microfilm of the 1942
Osaka Mainichi Daily News
was loaned by the Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia. Published books and articles, copies of military bulletins, and other named sources cited are in the author’s collection.

Chapter 1—Diggers

Background of Sgt. Gullidge and enlistment of Salvation Army bandsmen:

Cox, pp.
1
–
14
.

Description of 2/22nd Battalion and Trawool camp:
C. Johnson, pp.
2
–
6
.

Lt. Cdr. Carr’s background:
anonymous-by-request Lark Force member, correspondence with author; C. Johnson, p.
8
.

“We
were
British”:
Harris, correspondence with author.

Background of Thurst family:
Bruce Thurst, author’s interview.

Battalion march from Trawool to Bonegilla:
C. Johnson, p.
12
–
17
; Cox., pp.23–24.

“I’m chasing the bugle”:
quoted in C. Johnson, p.
22
.

“The Salvationists who joined”:
quoted in Cox, p.
27
.

“bivvy”:
from a letter by Gullidge, quoted in Cox, p.
37
.

“wadies”:
ibid., p.
39
.

AIF enlistment statistics:
Hasluck, p. 613.

Background of Pvt. Kollmorgen:
author’s interview.

“ ‘pannikins’ of tea”:
Melbourne Herald
, February 14, 1941.

Details of Melbourne parade, including
“Slope arms!”
:
Melbourne Age
, February 14, 1941.

“for God and the King”:
quoted in Cox, p.
43
.

Chapter 2—Evil Spirits

Details of the caldera-forming eruption:
Miller, author’s interview.

Early exploration of New Britain:
R. W. Johnson, p.
9
; Stone, p.
2
.

“a wretched, barbarous race in the extreme”:
Campbell, pp.
8
–
9
.

Topography of Crater Peninsula
: R. W. Johnson, p.
2
.

Background of R. K. P. Moore and acquisition of German plantations
: “Lost Lives.”

Descriptions of pre-war Rabaul
: Stone, pp.
9
–
11
.

“paddled by natives”:
Pearson diary, p.
2
.

“euphorically comfortable”:
R. W. Johnson, p.
14
.

Details of 1937 eruption
: R. W. Johnson, pp.
25
–
45
; Stone, pp.
12
–
18
.

Medical situation at Rabaul
: AWM 54 (608/5/3).

“every man took his dose”:
Bloomfield, p.
3
.

Army nurses and the “uniform revolt”:
L. Johnson, author’s interview.

“a train going over a big overhead bridge”:
quoted in R. W. Johnson, p.
139
.

“To stand was to rock like a drunken man”:
Pearson, p.
8
.

Chapter 3—Hostages to Fortune

“a slender chain of forward observation posts”:
Wigmore, p. 394.

“by ship, motor boat, canoe”:
Feldt, p.
6
.

Placement of coastal guns, and
“expert and most urgent advice”:
AWM 113 (MH 1/121, Part 1).

Description of antiaircraft battery and training
: Selby, pp.
7
–
8
; Bloomfield, p.
6
.

“The nurses were not supposed to go out with the troops”:
L. Johnson, author’s interview.

Details of the “Bung,” including
“sitting placidly by”:
Pearson, p.
8
.

Games and gambling, including
“which of two flies”:
Pocket Guide to Australia
, p.
29
; Bloomfield, p.
3
.

“They were all outstanding young men”:
L. Johnson, author’s interview.

Personality of Pvt. Webster
: Harry, “New Britain, 1941/42,” p.
8
.

“could thump out a honky tonk”:
Harry, correspondence with author.

Profile of Pvt. Harry
: Harry, author’s interview.

Popularity of battalion band
: Cox, pp.
54
–
56
.

Personalities of Turner and May, including
“only dire threats of punishment”:
Selby, pp.
13
–
14
.

Carr’s difficulties, and profile of Scanlan
: Harry, interview and correspondence with author.

Dispersion of 2/22nd companies
: AWM 54 (607/8/2).

Lend-Lease agreement and details of harbor defenses
: AWM 68 (3DRL 8052/108)

“a very capable fellow”:
Harry, author’s interview.

“the stink of bad eggs”:
Figgis, author’s interview.

“collected the spray”:
Hasluck, p. 543n.

“madness had overtaken Japan”:
ibid., p. 557.

“was full of excited speculation”:
Selby, p.
10
.

Description of Frisbee Ridge
: Bloomfield, p.
8
.

“In making this recommendation”:
Cable 154, December 15, 1941.

“Under the foregoing circumstances”:
MP729/6 (16/401/493)

.Arrival of 24 Squadron, including
“no facilities existed”:
AWM 54 (81/4/194).

“There was a hushed atmosphere”:
H. Johnson, extracts from
Una Voce
, March 2002.

Internment of Japanese men
: Aplin, p.
26
.

Plans and details of Refuge Gully
: Reeson, p.
144
.

Propaganda, rumors, and news
: Selby, pp.
16
–
17
.

Scanlan’s proclamations
: Bloomfield, p.
15
.

“You will fight on the beaches”:
quoted by Dawson, AWM 54 (607/9/3).

Chapter 4—Prelude to an Invasion

Imperial General Headquarters orders and war plans, including
“occupy Rabaul”:
Monograph No. 24, pp.
8
–
9
; Monograph No. 45 pp.
39
–
46
.

Organization of South Seas Detachment
: AWM 54 (608/5/4).

Details of staff meeting at Truk and Imperial HQ objectives, including
“coordinately attack Rabaul”:
AWM 54 (423/4/162).

Japanese pre-invasion intelligence, landing site options:
AWM 54 (608/5/4).

“It seemed impossible to believe”:
Selby, p.
15
.

Details of early air attacks
: AWM 54 (81/4/194).

Herstein
situation, including
“continued to pester Canberra”:
Aplin, p.
26
.

Japanese training methods and doctrine, including
“bodies and minds tempered hard as steel”:
Kawamoto.

“the heat began to increase”:
Miyake,
Osaka Mainichi
, February 10,1942, p.3.

“very cramped and uncomfortable”:
AWM 3DRL/4005.

Description of
tsubo
system:
Cundall, correspondence with author.

“On the day we crossed the Equator”:
Miyake.

“When we fight, we win”:
Intelligence Bulletin, Vol. II, No. 9
, pp.
44
–
46
.

“felt like a hunter”:
Fuchida, p.
54
.

“The first indication”
Bloomfield, p.
15
.

Details of Wirraway combat:
Gillison, p. 355.

“We sat at our guns”:
Bloomfield, p.
15
.

“It was a bomber-fighter type”:
Smith’s Weekly
, May 9, 1942, p.
1
.

Nakajima crew information
: Wenger, correspondence with author.

Lerew’s defiance, and
“We who are about to die”:
The Latin translation appears as “NOS MORITURI TE SALUTAMUS” in numerous published accounts, including the official RAAF history (Gillison, p. 358). However, a photograph of the actual message in the AWM collection reveals the wording as originally deciphered: “MORITURI VOS SALUTAMUS.”

Chapter 5—Chaos