How Castaways Escaped

Grim Days In The

Central Pacific

How Castaways Escaped From Japs

CAPTAIN Harold Stead, a merchant seaman who had had much naval experience in the 1914-18 war, left Auckland, NZ. in August last to proceed to Tarawa, Gilbert Islands, to join the Government motor vessel, “Nimanoa”, as first mate. After a tedious and ardu ous trip, via Suva, he eventually reached the “Nimanoa” and took up his job, late in October.

A few weeks later, while the “Nima noa” was lying in Tarawa, Japanese, from the Marshalls, occupied Tarawa; and (as announced in January) the “Nimanoa” was run up on the reef, to

keep her out of enemy hands. Her four European officers (Captain Harness and Mr. Stead, deck officers, and Messrs. Sin clair and Hunt, engineers) were tem porarily prisoners of the Japs, who burned their houses. (Tarawa was the “Nimanoa’s” home port.) The Japs did not stay long. They looted the place of all supplies and de parted; and the handful of European men remaining there settled down to a very restricted diet, and to make plans for escaping southwards.

2,000-Miles Boat Voyage

IN February, there came into Tarawa Lagoon a lifeboat from the Danish motorship, “Donerail”. A Japanese submarine attacked this harmless 3,000tons ship with shellfire about December 9. Under charter by the Union SS Co., she was on her way from Suva to Van couver, when the brutal enemy came alongside, and proceeded deliberately to sink the defenceless ship and murder her complement. Out of 42 people aboard, 24 (including two women and a small baby) were killed on deck by shells; others were killed when trying to launch the boats; 24 got away in one badly-holed lifeboat.

Head-winds drove them away from Hawaii, and they turned eventually for Tarawa. When they got there, after fearful sufferings, only seven of the 24 were left. They had been 38 days in an open boat, and they travelled 2,000 miles.

They spent some time in Tarawa; and Japs visited the place while they were

there, but apparently did not harm them.

Adventure In Lagoon Boat

ONE of the survivors, Mr. M. Cham bers, of Sydney, joined with Mr.

Stead and Mr. Jenner (manager of Burns, Philp and Co.’s Tarawa store), in what really was a desperate attempt to get away South, in a Tarawa lagoon boat. Mr. Stead, the navigator, for some reason, left the boat at an island; but Mr. Jenner and Mr. Chambers pushed on southwards to Nanouti, in the Southern Gilberts.

They had been three weeks making the trip from Tarawa to Nanouti in the lagoon-boat; and they were prepared to try to get to Fiji in it.

The “Fiji Times” of March 18 says that the other survivors from the “Done rail”, in a motor-boat—with (presum ably) other men from Tarawa—caught up with the lagoon-boat navigators at Nanouti; and the whole party eventually reached Suva.

Bp Men Now Safe

WE are informed by Burns, Philp and Co. Ltd., that not only did Mr. Jen ner reach Suva, but that his assist ant, Mr. Clark, and Captain Doughty, the skipper of the firm’s schooner “Helena” (reported in February to have been used by the Japs to carry their loot away from Tarawa) are also safe; and all three are on their way to Sydney.

There is no further word of Captain Stead —we do not know whether he is still on an island in the Southern Gil berts, or whether he eventually reached his home in Taranaki, New Zealand. In any event, he has some new adventures to add to his hundreds of tales of haz ards by land and sea, collected when he was hunting submarines in the Atlan tic and Mediterranean, 25 years ago.

Captain Stead —a snapshot by the editor of the “PIM”, taken in the Ellice Islands last October.