Wartime

Native Carriers In

N. Guinea

Useful Lessons of Wartime

IT is to be hoped that, when circum stances permit, due credit will be given to the men who organised the native carrier service that was the back bone of the supnly system that allowed the Australians to strike successfully at the Japanese across the Owen Stanley Range, in Papua, and eventually to drive them into the sea.

In the early part of this campaign there was confusion in relation to the use of native carriers; but the High Command very wisely sought out men who knew the country and the natives, and nut them in charge of the whole organisation. From then on transport and supplies worked with increasing efficiency.

Japs Murder Rabaul Carriers

On the other hand, the Japanese who landed on the north-east coast of Papua, and struck at Port Moresby across the Owen Stanley Range, failed dismally to solve the transport problem in a country where the unit of transport must be the native carrier. They brought with them, to the Gona-Buna landings, a few thou sand Rabaul natives, some hundreds of horses and mules, and about 30 trucks.

They appear to have lost the lot.

Thev treated the Rabaul natives with terrible cruelty. They tried to use them as a carrier service over the Owen Stanley Range, but at least one thousand of them deserted into the jungle. Most of them appear to have headed towards the north coast of New Guinea, and some actually turned up at Wewak. Several hundreds were killed by the Japanese—their cruelly bayoneted bodies were often found on the Kokoda-Buna track by the advanc ing Australians —and most of the re mainder eventually were captured by the Australians —and very glad they were to be taken.

Men who knew fhe Rabaul natives in the davs before the war, and used to complain of their growing cheekiness and unwillingness to work, were most inter ested to meet the Rabaul natives again in Papua, after they had been through the hands of the Japanese.

Says one former Rabaul resident: “We can 'be Quite sure that when we return to New Guinea, we shall have no further trouble with ‘flash’ natives. It needed only a few months in the hands of the Japanese to persuade them that the true friend and protector of the kanaka is the white man.

“The joy of these unfortunate Rabaul natives, when they realised that at last they were free of the Japanese, and in Australian hands again, was really pathetic to sea.”