Anniversary

January 23-Rabaul's Tragic

ON Saturday, January 23, at dawn, the women of New Guinea, some repre sentatives of the New Guinea branch of the Returned Soldiers’ Asso ciation, and others, will place upon the Cenotaph in Sydney wreaths to com memorate the bravery of the men who fell before the Japanese, on the day that Rabaul was occupied, one year ago.

One year has passed since the Japan ese occupied Rabaul and, from that point, began to spread their tentacles over New Britain, the New Guinea mainland, New Ireland and the Northern and British Solomons.

Those were grim days. We long had recognised the danger of a Jap thrust from the Caroline Islands (just over the horizon, northwards of New Guinea); but we were now so deeply involved in the war against Germany and Italy that we were not able to prepare any substantial defences in the Mandated Territory.

Both the Caroline Islands and New Guinea were mandated territories. But, while Australia scrupulously observed the League of Nations law against fortifica tion of a mandated territory, Japan, with the treachery typical of that nation, con structed great fortified bases in both Carolines and Marshalls, and placed powerful forces there.

Thus, when a Jap invasion fleet (3 cruisers, 2 destroyers, 5 transports) was seen approaching Rabaul on the after noon of January 22—Rabaul having been frequently bombed by carrier-borne air craft during the previous few days—there was little that we could do about it. A battalion of raw Australian troops, plus a battery or two and some three score members of the New Guinea Volunteer Rifles, could do nothing against thousands of highly-trained Japanese, with all modern equipment.

It was impossible, in the circumstances, to hold Rabaul; and impossible to blame Australia for failure to supply adequate forces. But Australia, some day, must take blame for failure to supply transport to permit the rapid evacuation of the Europeans from Rabaul. There had been plenty of warning.

But, while the bungling and incompe

tence of officialdom is writ large on the story of Rabaul, we find there also a splendid record of the stark courage and high spirit of young Australia. Those half-trained Australian soldiers fought and died like heroes, and none made a finer showing than the 72 young and

middle-aged men of the New Guinea Volunteer Rifles. The Japs came into Rabaul on January 23, and the NGVR resisted to the last. Only seven out of 72 escaped: the rest are dead, or are prisoners of war.

The bravest of all were the Australian airmen. The Japs came over with scores (some say hundreds) of modern bombers and fighters. The Australians went up to meet them in half a dozen slow and almost useless Wirraways. They knew they were going to almost certain death —but they went, just the same; and— almost incredible thing—they shot down a few Japanese aircraft before they were themselves destroyed.

We all know the rest—the imprison ment of the Rabaul Europeans, the arro gant swaggering of our semi-human enemy, as he occupied the mainland ports, and all the islands to the south eastward; and then the slow turning of the tide, as the Americans and Austra lians stopped, and held, and then smashed this hated enemy, wherever they met him. To-day, the picture is vastly changed. It is we who hammer the Jap in his jungle refuges, and it is the Jap who flees in panic from the now superior and ever-mounting strength of our air forces.