Tragic Events of January

Anniversary Of

Rabaul

Tragic Events of January 23, 1942

Adapted from a Broadcast Address by R. W. Robson.

ON Saturday, January 23, exactly one year will have elapsed since the Japanese occupied Rabaul, chief town and port of New Guinea. It is a year since many New Guinea civilians, trapped by the southwards rush of the Japanese, disappeared into enemy camps —one year since a few hundred young Australians, entering battle for the first time, displayed all the bravery and the fighting courage characteristic of their race. Many of them died there, beside the quiet waters of Rabaul Harbour.

The story of Rabaul has not yet been adequately told. It cannot be fully told until after the war. It has been charged that, in the preparations made to defend the place, and in the lack of preparations made to evacuate the Europeans when the Jap invasion threatened, there were bungling and incompetence in high offi cial places.

Personally, I never could understand why the civilians, at least, were not removed, about January 20, on the then

available ships. But that is a matter that must await the examination and judg ment of calmer days. Now, on this first anniversary, there is one thing that we can do—we can pay tribute to the men who, though in-equipped and vastly out numbered, resisted this cruel invader to the death - The Japs struck at Pearl Harbour on December 7; and, so well were their plans made, and so swiftly did they move, they were bombing Rabaul within four weeks.

Everyone knew there was danger of a Jap attack; but, embarrassed by the European situation the British were able to make no better defence prepara turns m New Guinea than were made m other Islands territories similarly men aced. Further it is opportune to recall a f bl f Japanese treachery, which affected the Rabaul situation.

VTORTH of the equator lie the Caroline li and Marshall Islands. Facing them, south of the equator, are the great islands of New Guinea, New Britain and New Ireland, known generally as New Guinea. The League of Nations gave Japan a C Class Mandate over the Mar shalls and Carolines, and Australia a C Class Mandate over New Guinea. The Mandate provides that the territory thus held shall in no circumstances be forti fied. Australia scrupulously observed that condition—not a soldier or a gun entered New Guinea until it was clear that the Territory was menaced, late in 1941.

But the Japanese, whose treachery already has become a by-word of history, spent at least fifteen years in construct ing a chain of fortifications in their mandated islands, just north of New Guinea; and, when they attacked the United Nations in December, 1941, they were, of course, able to sweep down upon our undefended Mandated Territory from their own highly fortified mandated territory.

THE first raid on Rabaul was made on January 4, when bombs were drop ped on the two aerodromes—the one at Lakunai, on the edge of the town, and the big one, at Taliligap, fourteen miles to the westward. There were some fur ther light raids in the ensuing fortnight.

It then was clear that the Japs were coming—but there was little we could do about it. We had in Rabaul exactly 1399 troops of all kinds—they included the 22nd Battalion of the AIP, who had never been under fire, a small formation of the New Guinea Volunteer Rifles, and a few specialist formations —artillerymen, engineers, airmen and ground crews.

Rabaul, which actually is the rim of an extinct volcano, lies in a kind of horse-shoe. There is a huge outer har bour, called Blanche Bay, and an inner harbour, which is enclosed within the horse-shoe, called Simpsonhaven. Out cn the eastern tip of the horse-shoe, on Praed Point, our men established a fort, with six-inch guns—evidently with the idea of commanding the outer and inner harbour and the northern approaches to same. From the manner of the Japanese attack on Rabaul, it is clear that they had had the place well spied out. They appeared to know the exact location of the aerodromes, of certain* military estab lishments, and of the fort at Praed Point.

On Monday, January 19, our recon naissance planes sighted a heavy concen tration of Jap ships away to the north of Rabaul —the invasion fleet was com ing. The enemy ships lay that night in the lee of Watom Island, in the northern entrance of St. George’s Chan nel, between New Ireland and New Brit ain—that is, a few miles north of Rabaul.

RABAUL waited grimly—and not for long. Next morning (Tuesday, the 20th) over came 60 bombers and 20 fighters, and proceeded to attack the aerodromes, the harbour installations and the Praed Point fort. Our air force went up to meet them—five practically useless Wirraways, manned by Australian air men, against 80 modern machines. Those boys did not have a chance —and they knew it, before they took off. The Japs shot them down, one after the other.

Some parachuted to safety—some did not. Yet, so high was their courage and so fine their spirit, that with those poor old crates they brought down two Jap machines, before they were themselves destroyed.

I should like to repeat the words of a Victorian sergeant in the AIF battalion, who saw what happened. “For sheer cold-blooded heroism I have never seen anything to compare with the pilots of those Wirraways,” said the sergeant.

“They knew they were doomed —but they had all the guts in the world.”

On the following day, Wednesday, the 21st, the Jap planes came over Rabaul again, and dropped more bombs. They did not go for the town’s buildings—they were evidently saving those for their own purposes. Our little force of defenders fought back with their few ack-ack guns —but by now the Japs had complete air mastery. That night, they landed and occupied Kavieng, in New Ireland, 100 miles to the northward, in the face of an heroic defence by a tiny AIF com mando unit. Another Jap force landed on the Duke of York Islands, near the mouth of Rabaul’s outer harbour. The enemy was drawing very close. There was now a great gathering of his ships in the northern entrance of St. George’s Channel.

THE next day, Thursday, January 22, was a day of terror in Rabaul.

Many civilians by now had gone away to the westwards and southwards, into the jungles of New Britain, but the troops were still at battle stations.

About 110 Jap planes came over, attacked shipping and harbour installa tions, and concentrated their bombs upon Fort Praed. For an hour the men of those batteries went through the most terrible ordeal. They had not a chance against the bombers—yet they fought back with rifles, machine-guns—anything they had. At the end of an hour the fort had been literally blown to pieces.

The survivors, carrying their wounded and their rifles, retired into the town.

This was the day that the Japs, finding they had everything coming their way, decided that they would land upon the Australian airfields. But the Australians were waiting for this. As the Japs came down, they touched off their demolition charges. The airfield was wrecked, two Jap planes were smashed, and a third destroyed by machine-gun fire. In addi tion, during this and the previous day, five Jap planes were brought down by accurate fire from the ground.

That day, Thursday, the 22nd, at sun set, all the remaining troops retired from the town into the jungle, to the west ward. Now that the fort at Point Praed was gone, the enemy ships were moving around into the outer harbour.

That night, the Australian commander disposed his few troops along the west ern shores of the inner harbour. They made their dispositions, and waited. It was a dark, still, misty night. The Aus tralians guessed, correctly, that the Japs would move in confidently from the outer harbour, to make a dawn landing in the inner harbour and occupy Rabaul. 1 CANNOT tell you all that happened along those shores that night, but I can describe the events of one sec tion. Seventy-two members of the New Guinea Volunteer Rifles, with a couple of companies of the 22nd Battalion, took up positions on the beach between the new volcanic mount, Vulcan, and Raluana Point—which is far around the inner harbour, westward and south-westward of the town.

At about 2.30 a.m. the sentries heard stealthy noises out on the harbour—the Jap landing barges were coming. The Jap plan apparently was to land on the eastward and westward sides of the inner harbour, and move up along both sides towards the town, at the top of the har bour. Our men, between Vulcan and

Raluana, encountered the western land ing.

The Jap barges grated gently on the gravelly beach. Japs, in black singlets and black shorts, and with their faces blackened, sprang ashore, amid a bab bling of orders. A green flare went up, to tell the ships that the landing had been effected. A Jap bugler walked up the beach and began to play a bright and merry call. He got out only a few notes —and then the waiting Australians opened up with all they had, and let the invaders have it. The Japs were completely surprised. They shouted and howled and panicked. They got back into their boats and hurriedly put out onto the harbour.

But Jap landings were also taking place elsewhere, where there was no resistance, especially on and around Matupi, and daylight showed the invaders ashore at many points. It also showed that about 25 cruisers, destroyers, transport and mine-sweepers were now in the outer

harbour, and it is known that more war ships, with three aircraft-carriers, were lying around in St. George’s Channel.

WITH the dawn, the Japs began their western landing in earnest. Here is one correspondent’s description of what happened when the barges came back to attack that beach held by our New Guinea Volunteers and AIF men:— “At Raluana, a mixed force of 200 Aus tralians waited until the landing barges were at almost point-blank range, and poured into them a ceaseless stream of machine-gun and mortar fire. Large numbers of Japanese were mown down by the murderous cross-fire. Those who leaped into the water to wade ashore were caught in submerged barbed wire entanglements. But they came on with fanatical courage. Those behind seized the dead bodies of their comrades and used them to make a bridge across the barbed wire on the beach. It is esti mated that more than 1,500 Japs were

killed in this engagement. More barges came in and landed wave after wave of Japs, and finally the Australians were driven from their positions, and they went into the jungle behind them, where attempts were made to re-form them into parties for escape to the westward and the southward..”

By noon on Friday, January 23, the Japanese, advancing along both sides of the inner harbour, and directly across the water, were in complete occupation of Rabaul, and our men had retired into the jungles of New Britain. They had fought what they knew was a hopeless fight—but they gave a good account of themselves—those raw, half-trained lads from Australia, and the Volunteer Rifles.

PRACTICALLY all fit men in Rabaul joined the AIF when war broke out in 1939. Those left behind, with the middle-aged veterans of the last war, formed themselves into the New Guinea Volunteer Rifles, and trained at nights and at week-ends. In 1941, when the Jap situation looked ugly, they underwent special training from 6 to 8 a.m.; and in January, 1942, when the invasion threat ened, they went on full-time duty beside the men of the AIF.

Out of the 72 Volunteer Rifles, who went into action against the invaders, only seven escaped—the rest are either dead or are prisoners of war. Theirs is a splendid record —made not only in that dawn battle of January 23, but also in that cruel retreat through the jungles of New Britain, later on, when they guided and helped the young Australian soldiers, who then knew nothing of the art of sustaining life in the tropical forests.

WHAT a tragic history this Rabaul has had. Prior to 1900, it was little more than a deep haven in a wilderness of tangled jungle. Then the Germans established their capital there, and

encouraged settlement, first at Kokopo, on the outer harbour, and then at Rabaul, on Simsonhaven. In 1904 ten European missionaries were massacred there by the natives. In 1914, an Aus tralian expedition landed on the shores of the outer harbour, seized the great radio station at Bita Paka and, after a little fighting against the Germans, occupied Rabaul. In 1937, the two vol canoes, Matupi and Vulcan, erupted, killed some hundreds of natives and two Europeans, and forced the hurried evacuation of the town’s 8,000 people to Kokopo. Two years later, as volcanic tremors continued, it was decided to remove the administrative establishment from Rabaul to Lae. In 1942, there came the Japanese invasion, the greatest tragedy of all.

We wonder what may be the next chapter in Rabaul’s strange history.

Whatever it may be. it will contain no example of greater heroism than the story of how those young Australians — airmen and artillerymen, infantry and Volunteer Riflemen —met the invader on the shores of Simpsonhaven in the dawn of January 23, 1942.

Wreaths on Sydney Cenotaph

Mark the Tragic 23rd

THERE was a representative gathering of Pacific Territories people in Martin ’Place, Sydney, at 8 a.m. on January 23, when, in an impressive silence, wreaths were placed on the Cenotaph, in memory of those men of the NGVR and the AIF, who gave their lives in the defence of Rabaul exactly one year ago.

Rabaul has had a checkered history in the years it has known European influ ence, but the Australian Mandate was only 21 years old. and the time too short in which to acquire many traditional

anniversaries—certainly none so tragic as this of January 23.

The only other anniversary that comes readily to mind was a gay occasion— although born of tragedy; the annual “Frangipanni Ball” that was held each year to commemorate the first flowering of the Frangipanni after the Rataaul eruption of 1937. Perhaps it was with this thought in mind that the New Guinea Women’s Club chose a wreath of Frangipanni—Rabaul’s flower of hope—to honour the brave men who gave their lives in that dawn of January 23, 1942.

Wreaths were placed on the Cenotaph in the following order: — New Guinea Volunteer Rifles —Brig.- General Sir Walter McNicoll (Ad ministrator of New Guinea).

New Guinea Branch of Returned Sol diers’ League—Mr. A. J. Gaskin (president of Branch).

New Guinea Women’s Club —Mrs, H. H.

Page (wife of Government Secretary of New Guinea).

New Guinea Volunteer Rifles —Major E.

Genyns. 22nd Battalion of the AlF—Sergeant J.

D. Debney.

Australian Militia Forces—Rifleman Les Clark, of Rabaul.

Anti-Aircraft Battery—Lieutenant Selby.

Anti-Tank Regiment—Lieutenant Fisher.

Australian Army Service Corps—Sergeant D. Cowley.

W. R. Carpenter & Company Ltd.—Mr.

W. H. Carpenter.

“A” Section, AA Battery—Mr. N. Mc- Carthy.

Pacific Territories Association—Mr. E. A.

James (president).

Nelson & Robertson Pty., Ltd.—Supply- Assistant N. Ryall, RAN. 17th Anti-Tank Regiment.

Bulwa Platoon. NGVR.

Many other wreaths and flowers were placed there also, by relations and friends of individual members of the NGVR and AIF who fell in the battle.