How Territories’ People Escaped

Remarkable Stories of Adventure in N. Guinea, Papua and Solomons

THE Japanese struck so swiftly at New Guinea and the Solomons that Europeans had little warning of the danger; and, in innumerable cases the evacuations were arranged so qJicklv that the unfortunate people had no chance of making nreoaratfons for departure. In hundreds of cases, plantations, stores, trading stations S were abandoned at an hour's notice-left in the care of scaredl and mystified natives while the owners escaped southwards with little more than the clothes they wore. In many cases, isolated Europeans got away >u ck,l y of'thllr Ventures launches. Many others are still in the jungle. Every day, stories of their adventures, sacrifices and hardships are reaching Sydney.

How Kevin Parer Died

THE tragic story of how Kevin Parer, who had been flying in New Guinea for over 10 years —he owned a number of commercial planes—was killed at Salamaua by the Japs on January 21, was told in detail by Mr. Val. Horton, of Salamaua, when he reached a Queens land port with other evacuees in mid- February.

Parer was about to take oft from Salamaua in his Dragon when Japanese aeroplanes dived low and set the machine ablaze with incendiary bullets. One struck Parer, who was in the cockpit.

Pilot Ernest Clarke, whose plane nearby had been bombed, dived for protection under Parer’s plane and when the Japs flew off he helped Parer out. They made for a shelter trench but, before Parer could reach it, he was killed by shrapnel.

Clarke, already nicked in the leg by four bullets and severely burned when trying to lift Parer out of his burning Dragon, sprained both ankles in his dive into the trench. He now is in hospital in Australia, having been carried by natives in a party which trekked to Papua and, later, came on to Australia from Port Moresby.

Parer, who was a brother of the famous Australian aviator, Ray Parer, left a widow and three young children.

More Precious Than Gold

“T>E careful with this . . . now take it J 3 easy”, anxiously said one of a party of evacuees from New Guinea as he handed a friend a small parcel, on arrival at a Queensland port. “This has got more value —sentimentally—than a whole bag of Bulolo gold-dust”, he added.

The evacuee was Mr. J. B. Sedges, aviation official on Morobe Goldfield, and he explained, later, that the packet con tained the first and only fruit from a mango tree planted years ago by Mrs.

Doris Booth, first white woman to make her home on the NG goldfields.

The mango was given to him by Mr.

Norman Wilde, a notable aviator and a brother of Mrs. Booth, for delivery to the Booth household in Queensland, where Mrs. Wilde now is staying.

Escape In 19-Tons Launch

ASAD sequel to the escape of five men and six women from the Solomon Islands to Australia, last month, m the 19-tons Mission launch “Fauro Chief’, was the death a week later in hospital of a member of the party, Mr. Charles Beck, who was mainly responsible for navigating the boat over 1,100 miles to safety.

The party comprised Dr. A. G. Rutter (in charge of the Methodist Mission at Gizo), Mr. E. J. Leadley (Mission edu cation officer), Mr. A. W. Bourne (planter), Mr. E. Manlehoft (BP & Co.), Mr. Beck.

Mesdames Bourne and Maplehoft, and four women missionaries. Misses V. Cannon, L.

Jones, G. McDonald, and E. Hartness.

They left Gizo at two hours’ notice, when warned that the Japs were dropping bombs on Faisi, less than 20 miles away Although he had no previous nautical experience, Mr. Bourne was appointed

skipper. Mr. Beck, though suffering from illness which had incapacitated him for many years, acted as navigator; he was an old seafaring man, able to steer by instinct during the day and by stars at m On’the third day out, Mrs. Bourne fell overboard when the vessel lurched in a

heavy swell, but she was quickly rescued.

Twice, within a few hours, the launch ran hard on a reef; both times the crew got it oft undamaged. Caught in a terrific storm, they hove to for four days to ride it out.

On the 14th day, they sighted a light house on the Australian coast and picked up their course. Four days later they reached port.

Freak Shooting

DESCRIBING the bombing of Lae (where Guinea Airways’ big estab lishment was situated), Mr. George Bellamy, of Edie Creek told of some freak exhibitions of machine-gunning. A Jap fighter came over low and fired at Mrs.

F. S. Stewart’s hotel. There were twelve bottles of whisky lined up on a bar shelf—each bottle was hit fair in the middle!

Souvenir

NOW in Sydney, Mr. B. Smith, saw miller and builder, of Morobe, New

Guinea, has a unique souvenir of the first Japanese raid on Wau. It is a propeller”, used in guiding the 250 lb. bombs released by Jap seaplane raiders.

He picked it up beside a crater, after 9 planes had dropped 30 or 40 bombs Mr. Smith said he found that a shallow trench, with one’s head about two feet below ground level was easily the best protection against bombs and machine gunning. “But the mosquitoes were worse than anything else,” he added, grimacing.

“I think I would rather face an enemy machine-gun than any more of those ‘man-eaters’. They would even fight you for possession of a trench.”

Heroic Australian Airmen

BEFORE the Jap invasion armada of 11 vessels put into Rabaul (former oo 9 a Pit a l of New Guinea) on January £3. their planes carried out 10 or 12 “blitz” raids on the town. They were opposed to an RAAF squadron of Wirra way machines, and the heroism and daring of the young Australian fighter pilots who flew these slow aircraft (compared with the modern Jap “Zero” fighter, patterned after the Nazi Messer schmitt) are given the highest praise by New Britain people who have reached Sydney.

i T J lree J? a 7 s prior to the actual Jap iandmg, Rabaul had its worst raid. Most ot the population by that time had taken "2 hills and the town was practically dead . The Japs came over with 110 bombers, dive-bombers and flying-boats escorted by 26 fighters—most, apparently’ from aircraft-carriers standing out at ‘T had my glasses on the Jap air fleet when I noticed six RAAF planes streak into battle,” said one Rabaul man. “I saw heroism such as could not be equalled anywhere—those Australian lads flew straight into the closely packed waves of Jap planes. They got plane after plane before they were shot down by superior numbers. The air was filled with screaming fighters and burn ing machines hurtling earthward.

The tail of one of our planes was completely shot away by a cannon-burst but the pilot made a successful forced landing. As the crew of another bailed out, they were machine-gunned by Jap fighter planes spiralling down.”

With most of their planes lost, the RAAF personnel later carried out a ‘‘scorched earth” policy before being evacuated—they blew up the aerodromes.

Destroyed petrol pumps, demolished buildings and made all equipment use less. They left, after hearing of a Japanese landing a few miles away.

A Daring Attack

WING-COMMANDER John Lerew, who commanded the RAAF squad ron at Rabaul which put up such gallant resistance during the Japanese onslaught, had revenge on the Japs a few weeks later when , they occupied Gasmata, on the south coast of New Britain, early in February. From an advanced RAAF base, Lerew led a bomber squadron in an attack on enemv shipping in Gasmata Bay and shot down two of the protecting Jap fighter planes and bombed the ships at mast head height, scoring direct hits on two and setting a third on fire. After the attack, he was reported missing: but. following a week’s silence, he returned unexpectedly to the base.

American Gunner’S Courage

IF ever a man deserved a medal it was a Norwegian ship’s gunner who cracked back at the Japs during a heavy air raid on Rabaul. just before I got away,” said Mr. Eric Howard, master of a small NG Administration vessel, who reached Sydney in February. He described how the gunner (a young American) stood in the wing of the bridge with his machine-gun trained on attacking dive-bombers and blazed away until the gun was red hot. ‘‘The 6,000-tons freighter was at the wharf,” recounted Mr. Howard, “and the first plane bombed the ship for’ard, the second got her amidships, and a third hit the hatches aft. In a minute she was ablaze from end to end, and the wharf was burning fiercely. Flames licked the gunner, but he fought on until the bridge where he stood collapsed on the deck below. Then, badly burnt, he dived overboard, got ashore, and made for the hills.

“I don’t know what happened to him afterwards,” added Mr. Howard, “but it was certainly the bravest piece of work I’ve ever seen.”

Copra Schooner Sunk

MR. Howard also told of the sinking by machine-gun fire of the copra schooner “Helga”, in the harbour.

Seven or eight natives were killed by bullets. The Catholic Mission boat, “Julius”, was attacked, too, and he be

lieved that a priest and a sister were killed in this raid.

Accompanying Mr. Howard was Mr.

Ted Bishton, well-known member of the AWA staff. “Bish” sent the last radio message from Rabaul to the outside world before the station was wrecked to save it falling into Japanese hands.

Seven Sevenths Safe

SEVEN members of the Seventh Day Adventist Mission in the Solomon Islands reached a Queensland port in mid-February after sailing 900 miles in a ketch, in seven days. They are Pastor J. C. H. Perry (SDA superintend ent in the Group, previously in New Hebrides), Pastor A. R. Barrett (Mission secretary, of Batuna, Marovo Lagoon), Pastor D. Ferris (head of the SDA on Malaita Island, formerly a missionary in New Hebrides), Mr. J. Cormack (district director of SDA work in the Western Solomons), Mr. J. P. Howse (Choiseul Island), Mr. J. Gosling (superintendent of Amyes Hospital at Kulumbangara), and Mr. C. Tucker (Mission engineer).

Jap Bombs Spray Death

IN raids on Port Moresby (Papua), the Japs are using a type of bomb so sensitive that it explodes at the slightest touch, said Mr. T. P. Gough, who has arrived in Australia after snending 13 years in the Territory as Officer-in-charge of Police at Moresby.

Giving particulars of the bombs, he said they exploded as soon as they hit even the foliage of trees. Although those that reached the earth made only 18-inch holes, they sent out a hail of old hack saw and razor blades and jagged pieces of metal that razed everything in their path. Moresby residents have nick named them “grass-cutters” because for yards around where they explode the ground is shorn of grass.

Nurse Was Heroine Of Epic

Trek From Salamaua

ii 7HEN Mr. R. Melrose, Director of Dis- Tf trict Services in New Guinea, arrived in Townsville (Queensland) in mid-February, he gave details of an epic trek made by a party of over 30 sick and infirm Morobe men from Sala maua to Papua.

The Japs raided Salamaua around noon on January 21, causing heavy dam age. Next day, 130 residents of the dis trict struggled through swamp country to the Government evacuation camp, in the hills. It was decided to get every one away to safety, if possible; so the party was divided into two sections —the healthy and the sick.

Those who were fit set off to walk 55 miles over a jungle track to Wau, across the 7,000 ft. mountains. They were led by District Officer “Nick” Penglase. It was a long, arduous journey, but they arrived intact.

The other group—the sick, the halt and the lame—left for Buna, in Papua.

A string of 13 canoes was paddled along the coast, through open sea, and the party landed at a point on the north east coast of Papua. From there, they hiked along a coastal track, pinnaces loaded with food skirting the coast and keeping up with the party. One of the boats was overturned in heavy seas on a river bar, and only one bag of rice was saved out of 1,000 lb.

The evacuees were under the leader ship of Mr. Melrose. Included among the sick men, carried by seven natives, was Mr. Dick Tebb, 61-years-old Morobe trader.

After 10 days of great hardships, they arrived at Buna. Later, they made their way inland to Kokoda, where planes picked them up, and in no time they were set down in Port Moresby.

All members of the party were loud in their praise of the one woman who made the journey—Nurse Esther Stock. She bore a man’s part in the trek, tending the wounded and sick, cheering the worn-out stragglers ,and helping in a dozen different ways. “She had more guts than the lot of us put together!” declared one grateful man, when he reached Moresby.

Sister Stock went to New Guinea from Victoria four years ago, and was attached for some time to the Government Hos pital at Wewak.

Apprentices Baptism

MALCOLM Goad, 17-years-old appren tice with Guinea Airways Ltd., missed meeting the Japs in the air over Bulolo by only five minutes. The Jap fighters were sighted as the GA plane (a 3-engined Junkers, loaded with 400 dozen bottles of beer, in which he was passenger, with Pilot “Bert” Heath) came in to land. Heath put the plane down beside two other Junkers, which had been brought inland for safety, and they had time only to dash for cover when six enemy aeroplanes swooped down and completely shot up the planes on the

ground.

Young Goad later came to Australia from Papua in a small plane; and he had the unenviable experience of having to

refuel it in mid-air from spare tins of petrol to give it sufficient range to reach the Australian mainland. He is the son of Mr. J. C. Goad, who was Government Medical Officer at Kavieng, New Ireland.

Escape And Honeymoon

THE Japs were busily bombing Rabaul one day in January when Mrs. Neva Bowles, young, good-looking and en terprising, came into Rabaul harbour in

her little coaster, loaded with timber from her sawmill at Waterfall Bay, New Britain, which she had successfully estab lished m six years in New Guinea.

The liveliness ashore did not deter her.

She landed, investigated, and decided she had better go elsewhere. But she took with her, aboard her little ship, a number of escaping Rabaul citizens including W-A. k uke ’ of Amalgamated Wireless, Ltd. s NG staff. They presently aban doned the little timber ship, and got aboard a bigger vessel; and, by devious routes, they eventually reached Australia.

In Sydney, exactly one month after es caping from Rabaul, Mrs. Bowles married Mr. Luke, and went off with him to his new job in WA. She does not know what has happened to her sawmill, or her timber-ship, or her little home in Water fall Bay; but she is not worrying. After all, there always will be Japs and other Asiatic plagues; but honeymoons come but rarely.

Jap Airmen “Capture” Kieta

KIETA, the little village of eight build ings on the east coast of Bougainville Island, in the Northern Solomons Group (but included in Australia’s Man dated Territory) was “captured” on January 23 by two Japanese airmen armed only with a Jap flag, said Mr M. C. Mann (medical assistant in the NG Health Department) who escaped from Kieta with 14 other Bougainville

residents in a 9-tons mission ketch. They reached Port Moresby (Papua) after an eventful 1,000 miles voyage, without charts or navigating instruments. ‘Kieta was completely undefended,” said Mr. Mann, “and Jap reconnaissance planes came over at noon on several eonsecutive days to find out the strength of the town. When they found they were unopposed, a seaplane landed in Arawa Bay. Two Jap airmen rowed ashore in a collapsible boat and planted the ‘Rising Sun’ on the beach.”

Incidentally, all the Australian news papers (including the usually accurate ‘Sydney Morning Herald”)—at no time ever noted for correct reporting of Pacific Islands news—referred to Kieta as “the administrative capital of the Solomons”

Kieta, of course, is only a tiny place on the shores of a fairly good harbour.

Bougainville, before 1914, was German territory, and is now part of the Mandated Territory of New Guinea.

Bishop Stayed To Face Japs

MR. Mann also told how Bishop Thomas Wade, of the Marist Mission, refused to leave Kieta with the other Europeans. Though it was known that a Jap warship was patrolling outside the harbour, Bishop Wade (who is an American) declared he would not think of abandoning his work and leaving the natives. He urged the planters and Gov ernment officials to seek safety but declined himself, saying that he would don his robes and go down to meet the invaders if they came ashore, and ask them to respect his religion On reaching Port Moresby, Mr. Mann enlisted in the military forces there, des pite rib injuries sustained when climbing the schooner’s mast to look for land during the voyage from Kieta.

Six Kieta Men “Go Bush”

ANOTHER evacuee from Kieta, Mr.

J. H. Merrylees, District Officer, re ported that six planters were still “in the bush” on Bougainville—including Mr. T. E. Ebery, well-known trader, of Buin. Mr. Merrylees said that before leaving he spent half an hour burning official papers; then, with the help of several other man, he blew up the wire less station at Kieta.

Their trip to Port Moresby in the schooner included an escape from a Jap bomber when they were 10 miles out at sea. They put into Woodlark Island (Eastern Papua) not knowing whether the Japs were in possession of it or not, but there was no sign of the enemy when they landed.

A Hidden El Dorado

NEW Guinea miners evacuated to Sydney say there is at least four tons of gold, valued at over £BOO,OOO cached in the Territory. They hope to retrieve it all after the war.

“We were forbidden to take any gold out of the territory,” stated one old miner. “Planes that evacuated us from the interior of New Guinea had room only for passengers—gold was worth nothing! Despite the ban on gold as air freight, however, some miners managed to smuggle ingots out with them.”

11 Days In Canoe

NINETEEN-years-old Max Rowe, who was a clerk in the Salamaua office of Guinea Airways Ltd., made a getaway from the town by canoe after an attack by Japanese bombers.

When the raid was over, he waded knee-deep through a swamp for an hour, then walked for two hours up the moun tains to reach a pre-arranged evacuation camp. A party of men then returned to the beach, only to find that natives had taken all the canoes. Eventually, they induced some natives from a small island

nearby to take them down the coast to Buna, in Papua.

Hugging the coastline by day and sleeping in native villages at night, they reached their destination after 11 days, with rice as their staple diet. Because the natives accompanying them were not over-enthusiastic about their job, each night one of the party guarded the canoes after the paddles had been taken away. , r „ Young Rowe later was taken from Buna to Moresby by plane and then continued on to Australia. He is now at Unley, in South Australia.

Daru’S Only Casualty

UP until mid-March, the only “air raid” casualty in Daru, at the mouth of the Fly River, Western Division of Papua, was a native. It happened this way: Australian bombers passed over the low-lying island (which is surrounded by mangrove swamps), but they were mis taken for Japanese raiders. The native, who was employed by the Administration, jumped into a creek; he was seized by a crocodile and killed.

Dutch New Guinea Bombed

PERIODICALLY during the past three months, long-range Japanese 4engined flying-boats have raided the small towns and centres along the coast of Dutch New Guinea. Without any oppo sition, the planes leisurely select their targets and proceed to blast them off the face of the earth.

One such raid carried out on Babo, when five civilians were killed and 15 injured, was described recently by an eyewitness who reached Australia. He said that the town received no warning —the first they knew of it was when bombs began to fall. The Japs first attacked the jetty with 1,000 lb. bombs, then flew in low over the township and

dropped 150 small bombs. Two direct hits were made on an important Government building.

Natives panicked when the raid began and came back only when they got hungry.

He also described the straffing by Jap fighters of Dutch seaplanes based on Dobo, the port of Wamar Island, in the Aru Group (off the southern coast of DNG). One seaplane, which had been doing transport work in that part of the Indies, took off with one motor mis sing, its tail battered and the whole machine shaking badly, but the pilot managed to evade the Japs.

He Stayed Behind

MR. F. Goodwin, of Wau, who reached an Australian port last month after a perilous journey from Papua aboard a copra ship, told the newspapers that among a party of 18 men who reached Wau from Lae just before he left was Mr. Vic. Horsby, aged 71. Mr.

Horsby left Lae when the bombings began and got away to Salamaua in a pinnace; then, with other Morobe men, he trekked for days through the jungle, from Salamaua to Wau. When he arrived in Wau, he said: “Well, boys, I’m leaving you here. I’m going to give a hand at the hospital”. And there the party left him.

Mr. Goodwin came away at short no tice, with only a raincoat wrapped around a few papers and personal oddments, a bamboo cane—and a chunk of shrapnel, souvenir of the Jap raids on Wau.

Missionary Wounded

REV. J. W. Burton, general secretary of the Methodist Mission, told a Meth odist gathering in Sydney at the end of February that the Mission property at Vunairima, near Rabaul (New Britain), including the hospital, the George Brown

training home, and technical institutions, had been bombed and destroyed. He said that Rev. W. D. Oakes, when rescuing documents from the Mission station near Kavieng (New Ireland), which had been set afire by incendiary bombs, was wounded by Jap machine-gun bullets.

His present whereabouts are not known, but it is assumed that he is in the jungle inland with other Europeans.

Oil Man Still Prospecting

FOR a couple of years now, Australasian Petroleum Co. Pty. Ltd. has been carrying on intensive search for oil in Papua and when the Japs entered the war, drilling was in progress at the com pany’s first deep test-well put down at Kariava, on the Vailala River. It was decided last month to evacuate all the APC staff to Australia. However, one geologist, Mr. G. A. V. Stanley, who has spent many years in both Papua and New Guinea was reluctant to leave, and he obtained permission to go off into the hills to carry on oil prospecting. With him, he took a couple of native carriers and 12 months’ supply of food.

The company’s vessel ferried the rest of the personnel down the Vailala and was making her way across to the Aus tralian mainland when the tail-shaft broke. Fortunately, the 23-tons ketch

Gill Gili”, originally from Eastern Papua, encountered her drifting off Cape York.

The APC boat was given a 350-miles tow to Cairns.

Among the arrivals on the “Gili Gili” was Mr. A. H. Simpson, accountant at Cuthbert’s Misima Goldmine Ltd., who said that residents of Misima had been given 15 minutes to evacuate the island.

About £30,000 worth of gold was left in the sludge at the company’s cyaniding plant when operations ceased at the end of January.

Liquor Looted At Lae

AN official report of Jap air raids on Lae (New Guinea’s new capital) issued by the authorities in Febru ary, said that 60 planes took part in the main attack, in which Guinea Airways’ hangers, stores and workshops were set on fire and destroyed.

Although residents had 15 minutes’ warning of the approaching planes, few took shelter until the enemy fighters were overhead. Even then there were no casualties.

After .the fighters had attacked the aerodrome buildings with cannon fire, bombers went into action for three quarters of an hour. Between bombings, the fighters continued their machine gunning.

One unsavoury feature of the report was the disclosure that after the Lae bombing the liquor store of Burns, Philp and Co. Ltd. was broken into and beer and spirits looted by Chinese and natives. It was said that one or two Europeans also took part in the looting Large numbers of natives got drunk; so’ to prevent a recurrence of this,' officials destroyed all liquor stocks, except a little brandy for medicinal purposes. report added that members of the NG Volunteer Rifles destroyed 2,000 drums of petrol, valuable maps, and motor cars left behind by civilians evacuated from the town.

First To Fall

DURING a dog-fight over Rabaul in the first big air raid, watchers saw a Japanese fighter plane, bullet riddled by an RAAF gunner, spin crazily out of the sky and crash on the top of the mountains behind the town. Resi dents, after the raid, climbed up to the spot and found two dead Japanese airmen inside the burnt-out plane—the first enemy to fall on Australian territory.

Clutched in the hands of each was a tiny sack of soil —Japanese soil.

Picture Show Disappeared

FOR the first raid on Wau (New Guinea), Jap bombers came in from the east at 10,000 ft. and made two runs across the town and aerodrome, dropping about 30 bombs, Mr. Harry Blake, ground engineer with Stephens Aviation Co., told Sydney reporters at the end of February. The picture show was the first to disappear amid a cloud of dust, then a house near the aero drome.

“One bomb blew away a corner of Dr E. Giblin’s home,” stated Mr. Blake, “but before the dust had cleared the doctor (who must be 60 years old), raced through the wreckage to rescue his medi cal instruments. He said that, whatever happened, he just had to have those things safe, in case of casualties.”

First Shanghai, Then Rabaul

WHEN she was evacuated from Rabaul recently, it was the second time that the Japanese war-lords had driven Mrs. H. G. Hunter . from her home. After 34 years’ residence in Shanghai, she was forced to leave owing to the Sino-Japanese conflict; so she made her home with her son in New Guinea, three years ago. Then the Japs stretched yellow fingers. towards New Britain, so again Mrs. Hunter packed up and left. Now she is living with her daughter in Adelaide, South Australia.

Died At Sea

MR. Reg. Fletcher, well-known planter, trader and miner, of Eastern Papua, died early in February, while being taken from Fergusson Island (largest of the D’Entrecasteau Group) to Samarai in a small open boat.

Miss Edith Twyford, of the Methodist Mission’s hospital at Salamo, Fergusson Island, who now is in Sydney, said: “The day before we left, I brought him to our hospital from an isolated island where he had a coconut plantation. Asked by the Government to leave Fergusson as there was some likelihood of a Japanese air raid —the Japs had dropped bombs on Samarai only a few days previously—we embarked in a launch for Samarai, in the hope of being picked up by a larger vessel.

Mr. Fletcher died during the first day out. We called in at East Cape, on the Papuan mainland, and gave him a Christian burial”.

When the party reached Samarai, they found that the residents, except for Gov ernment officials, had already been evacuated. The whole town was set to be

fired if the Japs came. One store was open but the proprietor and staff had gone.

“No vessel was available to take us from Samarai,” continued Miss Twyford, “and we were getting ready to leave in the ketch ‘Tolema’ for Townsville, when a message came asking us to go straight to Port Moresby. We took on board three engineers from the Misima Island gold mines, who were waiting at Samarai, and set out for Moresby.”

Included in the party from Fergusson Island were Misses Nell Pitty and Hazel Muir (Mission nurses) and Misses Daisy Coltheart and Florence Pearce (Mission teachers). At Moresby, the women joined a Burns, Philp boat built to accommodate 12 but packed with 132 evacuees, including some Chinese. The boat left for Australia at midnight three hours before Jap raiders came over and bombed the town.

“Blitz” On New Ireland

WE escaped from New Ireland soon after the Japs occupied Kavieng and plastered our township of Namatanai with bombs,” stated two plan ters, Messrs. S. M. Pasley and A. C.

Brereton, whose coconut properties were situated along the road out of Namatanai, New Ireland. “We saw enemy planes coming over Kavieng in waves of 50, 60 and then 100. They smashed the place to pieces; then they came over Namatanai.

We counted 69 planes flying above us and then lost the score.

“Seeing great clouds of smoke arising from the bombings,” they continued, “we decided it was time to get out. A few of us boarded an 8-tons launch, without sails. We had plenty of petrol, so we thought our best plan would be to make for Tulagi, in BSI. We had to cross 650 miles of ocean, in and out of the islands.

Jap bombers seemed to be everywhere, so mostly we sheltered during the day and travelled by night.

“With only one day of bad weather, we made Tulagi within a week. Our good luck held, for not long after our arrival, we were able to connect with a ship bound for Australia —and here we are.”

In The Hills

MR. Pasley, in an interview, told the newspapers that some planters did not attempt to leave Kavieng.

These were the men who long had sub scribed to the theory that if they took plantation stores up into the wild hills of New Ireland, they would be able to hold out for at least a year, undetected by the invaders. "But,” added Mr. Pasley, “I am not at all certain that the natives would not give away their positions to

the Japanese.”

Evacuee Liner’S Escape

WHILE she was taking off the last women and children evacuees from New Britain, a well-known Islands liner had a narrow escape in Rabaul nar bour, late in December. Japanese bombers failed to sight the vessel during their first raid. On the second and third raids, however, two 500 lb. bombs fell close to the ship—no damage was done but she rolled heavily for a few minutes after the bombs exploded under water.

Later, the liner went on to Tulagi, in the Solomon Islands, to pick up a further batch of refugees. Among a party of SDA Mission women, who embarked at Gizo, were Mrs. H. Perry (wife of the Mission superintendent at Batuna), Mrs.

J. Howse (of Choiseul Island), and Sister E. Totenhofen (of Marovo Lagoon).

Alive—But Lost His Hair

MR. E. (“Pudge”) Noble, of Lae, New Guinea, reached Australia recently from Papua, in company with 40 other men and women on board a 500tons copra vessel that normally carries only the nine members of crew. On the

ship he cared for two stretcher cases — one wounded in the thigh, the other shell-shocked. The six-days’ voyage in the tiny vessel, tossed by heavy seas and fighting its way through rains, was described as “a veritable nightmare”.

Mr. Noble had been in New Guinea for nine years and, in recent months, was en gaged on the construction of the new administrative centre at Lae. When the Japs machine-gunned the town with in cendiary bullets, he was sprayed with oil

from an exploding tank nearby; after sniffing for a moment or two he dis covered that his hair was alight. He dived into a trench and extinguished it with mud—but lost a fine head of hair in the process.

Later, he and other Lae men tramped 60 miles to Wau, through flooded rivers and by native tracks over high mountains.

One of Mr. Noble’s legs “cracked up” on the journey—he was wounded during the last war in the other —but he managed to reach Wau, from whence a plane took him to Port Moresby. “We made it somehow and I reckon I’m lucky to be here, alive and well,” he said when he set foot in Australia.

Gallant Commercial Pilots

MEN and women of Morobe never will forget the gallant part played by New Guinea commercial air pilots in evacuating them and their children to Papua, so that they could get away South to safety. Two of the dozen fliers who earned much praise for their work. Mr.

Eric Stephens (a former Royal Flying Corps veteran and head of Stephens Aviation Co. in New Guinea) and Mr.

Norman Wilde (a miner-airman) reached Australia at the end of February.

In a little over a fortnight, Pilots Stephens and Wilde carried nearly 200 evacuees from several inland aerodromes in New Guinea to Port Moresby. This entailed flying more than 72,000 miles over some of the most treacherous coun try in the world, in incredibly difficult flying weather. An order from the civil aviation authorities in mid-February that all but Service planes must leave New Guinea ended their evacuation work.

Much of their flying was done in the 11-years-old three-engined “Faith in Australia”, the late C. T. P. Ulm’s famous monoplane, which flew the first official airmail to NG in 1934. She was taken over by Stephens Aviation Co. last June, after doing “joy-riding” service at Mascot

aerodrome (NSW) for seven years.

Mr. Stephens said that when the plan for evacuating residents by air was first suggested, his engineers worked day and night to make the “Faith” airworthy.

Despite the rigours of her task, the plane never faltered. “She didn’t have much speed, so we were lucky that an enemy plane never once got on our tail”, he remarked.

“The old bus escaped Japanese bombs many times”, continued Mr. Stephens.

Scurrying for cover while Jap bombers roared overhead was part of the daily routine. They usually came over in squadrons of nine and dropped their ‘eggs’ from a fair height. At Salamaua, Lae, and Bulolo, I saw machine-gunning from practically ground level.”

On their last job, the two airmen flew 11 passengers from Port Moresby to the Australian mainland. The “Faith” had been stripped of seats and the passengers lay huddled together on the floor. The “Faith” did not return to Pt. Moresby.

At one time, early in February, Wau people feared that Mr. Stephens and the “Faith in Australia” had been forced down in the jungle on one of his return trips to Morobe after landing a batch of refugees at Moresby. But apparently he merely had been delayed, for he showed up at Wau a few days later.

Used Abandoned Plane

MR. Wilde, who was co-pilot on many of the trips with Mr. Stephens, found abandoned at Pt. Moresby a Guinea Airways Fox Moth machine, which he promptly commandeered for rescue work. “I did not know in what condition the engine was, but I filled her up with petrol and oil and hoped for the best. In this Moth, which had a normal capacity of pilot and one passenger, I flew 11 Chinese from Salamaua to Moresby in one hop. It took me a mile and a half to take off—and then I scraped the tree-tops near the drome.

On another occasion, a small Mandated Airlines machine piloted by Captain F Bryce, and my ‘borrowed’ Moth, trans ported 45 evacuees to the coast in six trips, straight-off.”

Telling of the escape from Jap bombers, Mr. Wilde said that about a quarter of an hour after he had left Wau he noticed nine enemy aircraft. His Moth carrying a load of Asiatic women and children, was flying at 10,000 ft.; the Japs were 2,000 ft. overhead.

“For two hours I played hide and seek in the clouds. I was trying to get altitude to enable me to reach Pt. Moresby, but bad weather and a petrol gauge hovering around zero mark compelled me to make a dash back to Wau. I returned, only to find that the airfield had been bombed; but I managed to make a safe landing ”

Mr. Wilde’s own little Simmonds Spar tan aeroplane was still in New Guinea when he left. It had been flown in recent weeks by Father J. C. Glover, a young Australian priest attached to the Catholic Mission (Society of the Divine Word) at Alexishafen, in the Madang district.

Father Glover, in last reports, was still carrying on his work, in the Morobe district.

“Scorched Earth” In Bsi

WITH only a two-shilling piece in his pocket, Mr. H. S. Brearley, planta tion manager of Choiseul Island (the large island in the north of the Solomons Group, near the Protectorate boundary), escaped in a small cutter to Tulagi, where he picked up a liner which brought him safely to Australia in mid-February.

During his journey in the small boat, he had a “close shave” when a 4-engined Jap float-plane sighted him in the open sea and dropped bombs 300 yards away, then flew off.

“On my way to Tulagi, I headed in for Gizo to see if I could be of any assistance,” he related. “It was not day light, and I saw that the local store was

burning, so I headed out again—the ‘scorched earth’ policy had been applied, to leave nothing for the Japs. Stores at Faisi also were burnt out, and those at Makambo (Tulagi) were stripped of everything of value.”

The vessel on which he reached Aus tralia was bombed by the Japs one morn ing-missiles fell nearby, drenching the decks with spray from the explosions, but there were no casualties. Some of the evacuees on the liner said they owed their escape to thick weather that reduced visibility for the raiders.

Lae Smashed By Bombs

“rpHE Japs systematically bombed X everything at Lae when about 60 bombers and fighters made the original attack on January 21”, described Mr. Henry G. Eekhoff. storekeeper trader in the Huon Gulf, TNG, who ar rived in Sydney with other evacuees in mid-February. “They smashed the han gars of Guinea Airways Ltd., the lighting plant, and planes on the ground. Our town took 12 years to build, and in a few minutes it was practically obliterated.”

After the raid, Mr. Eekhoff and other Lae men took to the hills. Later, 19 of them embarked on a 4\ days’ walk into Wau, over a survey road, carrying their own packs and food in calico flour bags.

Mr. Eekhoff was not long a stranger in Australia —the first person he met was Mrs. Doris Booth, who had been his friend and neighbour 20 years ago when he first went to the Territory. In recent weeks, Mrs. Booth has sought out eva cuees from New Guinea and unofficially welcomed them to Australia.

Pt. Moresby Shops Looted

SHOPS and dwellings at Port Moresby (Papua) were looted after the Japanese air raids of February 3 and 4, declared Mr. C. Brough, employee of Burns, Philp and Co. Ltd., who ar rived in Sydney at the end of February.

Thieves lifted cases of foodstuffs, liquor and clothing from a couple of the big stores. From private homes, also, food and valuables were taken.

A store manager declared that ‘the looters were not natives”.

Mr. S. Muddell, who came by the same liner, stated that after the first raid, business places closed early in the after noons. Employees of the majority of firms “went bush” to escape the bombs at night and returned to work in the morning. He added that the only civilian killed in the raids left his home while bombs were falling and ran towards a shelter. He was struck by shrapnel.

Played Piano In Air Raid

OVERHEAD, Jap planes droned across Wau; a siren wailed its warning.

At short, regular intervals came the detonation of bursting HE bombs; one hit the kitchen of the local hotel. Of those in the hotel bar, who had not “gone to earth”, one walked across to the old, much-used piano, sat down and began to knock out the tune of “So Long, Letty”!

The music-strummer was Bert Kincaid, 50-years-old miner, who had been in New Guinea for over 18 years. To his friends, later, he explained: “When the bomb hit the kitchen, I thought ‘l’m here, so I might as well stay now’. So I had another drink, played the piano for a while, then hopped outside to give a hand to an injured Chinese”. .

The casual Mr. Kincaid now is in Sydney, having been evacuated from the Territory with other men too old for military service.

Slipped Away From Rabaul

BETWEEN 300 and 400 civilians are still hiding in the hills beyond Rabaul (now occupied by the Japs), cording to Mr. Arthur Ridge, of the NG Administration staff, who escaped from

New Britain at the end of January and now has returned to his home in Prospect, South Australia.

After the Japanese landed, he sought refuge in the thick country behind Rabaul; then, with two companions, he slipped away in a small boat, under cover of darkness. They were able to link up with an inter-island schooner, already overloaded with fleeing civilians, and this vessel eventually took them to Papua.

Other men who reached Australia from Rabaul told of incidents during the Jap bombings. Apparently thinking it was a tanker, they bombed and sank the old “Westralia”, moored in the harbour as a coal hulk. Other sailing ships and light craft were machine-gunned. The only civilian building to be directly bombed was one owned by Burns, Philp and Co.

Ltd., which received a direct hit—it was destined for use for military purposes, but the plan had been cancelled.

1,000 Miles In Tiny Ketch

NONE of the 15 men who sailed from Bougainville Island (in the Man dated Territory of New Guinea) for Papua in mid-January in the Mission ketch “Bilua” had had any experience at sea, but the little vessel travelled nearly 1.000 miles through reef-strewn seas without charts, and weathered severe storms.

An account of the voyage was sup plied by Rev. C. T. J. Luxton, of the NZ Methodist Missionary Society, whose station was at Buka Passage, and by Mr.

C W. M. (“Pard”) Evans, NG prospector, when they reached Sydney last month.

“We left Kieta in a small boat owned by Wang You, a Chinese storekeeper, just 15 minutes after a large Jap plane landed”, said Mr. Luxton. “At a village along the coast, we picked up the ‘Bilua’ and sailed to Empress Augusta Bay, on the other side of the island. There we decided to make for Woodlark Island, in Eastern Papua. We did not land at Woodlark—several of us thought it might be in Jap hands—so we spent the night at anchor and left for Samarai at dawn.

“The RM at Samarai saw that we were provided with food and clothing, before we set out for Fort Moresby. On the

way, sheets of blinding rain drenched us, for the ketch had neither cabin nor shelter. Loaded with cases of petrol, we could not even find relief in indulging in a smoke. At Moresby, the Navy took over the ‘Bilua’. Four of the men were absorbed by the Military—the rest came 0 n to Australia by another vessel.”

Mr. Evans said that the members of the party, in addition to Rev. Luxton an d himself, were: Dr. A. V. G. Price (Govt. Medical Officer), Pastor C. Pascoe (SDA missionary at Rumba), Messrs, w N g couzens and M. Mann (NG Administration Medical Assistants), War rant officer H G ridley (NG Police Force), Messrs. H. Doherty (wireless operator), w R D ishon (Patrol Officer), G. Ham mond (clerk in the District Services Dept.), J. M. Joyce (of Iwi Plantation), j Trnic (of Arawa Plantation) C Doyle (p i an tation manager), S. Laurence (man ager Qf Burns> philp and Co.’s Kieta branch), and J. H. Merrylees (DO).

Mr. Charles McLeod has been accepted by the Presbyterian Mission for service in New Hebrides. At present, he is re maining at Croydon (Victoria), until such time as his passage can be arranged to the Group.

Mr. Ben. W. Taylor, who has been a member of the Fiji Government’s Edu cation Department since 1924, retired in January. He has been headmaster of the Southern Provincial School during the past two years.

Mr. Noel McNally, who had been Supreme Court reporter in Fiji since 1938, died in the Colonial War Memorial Hospital, Suva, in January, following an operation. A New Zealander, he went to Fiji in 1926, serving with Morris, Hed strom Ltd., until he joined the Govern ment Agriculture Department in 1929. He was transferred later to the Attorney- General’s Department (1934-36), and then was seconded to the Supreme Court Registry in 1937. He is survived by Mrs.

Elsa McNally and two young sons.