How War And The Americans Came

To Tonga

By H. E. L. Friday

THE native kingdom of Tonga, in par ticular the island of Tongatabu, came into the war picture in Feb ruary, 1942, when Admiral King, Com mander-in-Chief of the United States Fleet, decided to establish a garrison there.

But it was not until May 9, 1942, that a large US convoy dropped anchor off Nukualofa and an advance echelon went ashore to make arrangements for land ing §ind to start the work of unloading.

Their arrival made a great impression on the natives, who gave them an enthusias tic reception, the entire population of the little town, from babes in arms to grand mothers, turning out in welcome. The arrival of Abel Tasman in 1643 can hardly have caused more excitement. On that occasion the great Dutch navigator also left it on record that he was hos pitably received and that the Tongans are a noble and a likeable people.

Americans can ecl}o his remarks, for they found themselves in a friendly atmosphere amid a population of well governed and co-operative Polynesians, alert and intelligent and for the greater

part able to speak English, so that understanding was well based and mutual.

No depressed, disease-ridden islanders these, but generally muscular, handsome men and comely, smiling women—free dom-loving people whose welcome came straight from the heart. Their eyes grew wide with wonder, as guns and jeeps, and command cars and men in khaki streamed ashore. More activity was crowded into a day or two than they had ever dreamed would happen in all their lives.

Few of the Americans had more than hazy ideas about the Tongan Group, apart from Tin Can Island, and its swim ming postman—an Englishman who served in the First Auckland (NZ) Bat talion in the last war. His name was C. S. Ramsay, and his job was to take mail to and from liners waiting half a mile off shore.

An island trader, he went to Niuafo’ou m 1921, and noticed that in the hurricane season the people were deprived of communications for six months of the year. Some years previously, mail had been sent from ships with rockets, but the mail was burned and the rockets set fire to the bush. “At first,” said Mr.

Ramsay, “I swam during a bad season.

But owing to the great interest shown by tourists, the captain of a ship asked me to keep it up, and for 10 years I continued the ‘Tin Can’ mail all the year round.”

WHEN the Americans arrived at Ton gatabu and for some time after wards, a strong enemy attack on the Samoa-Fiji-New Caledonia stretch of the vital American-Australasian supply line (officially known as the Anzac-American line) seemed probable. As long as that line held firm, it was considered unlikely that Tonga would be attacked by major enemy forces. But it was felt that both Army and Navy forces there should be strong enough to protect navy and air bases against raids, as well as to deny the Group to forces attempting to attack Fiji or Samoa from the south.

VAST amounts of money, men, equip ment and effort were thrown into the construction of such bases as Tonga, which the war to-day has left so far behind. But once the Allied South Pacific campaign had started, these islands served as reinforcement areas and as supporting points for aircraft operat ing over an area of thousands of miles.

Even to-day, their usefulness has not entirely lapsed, for they offer alterna tive staging points on the busy South Pacific air-ferry route.

There were a number of alerts on Ton gatabu even after the Solomons offensive had got under way. During the naval battle of Santa Cruz, in October, 1942, naval and air patrols from Tonga were especially active, while infantry and artillery manned specially prepared beach and gun positions. During this alert, the 15th Squadron, RNZAF, arrived on Ton gatabu. There were further alerts on November 12. when a hostile cruiser was sighted south-west of the Ellice Islands area; and at the end of December, when an enemy destroyer and two submarines were spotted in the vicinity of Norfolk Island.

AS is usual with them, the Americans put a road improvement scheme into operation soon after their arrival on Tongatabu. They found two good-sur faced roads bisecting the island, narrower

dirt roads linking them up with outlying parts; but the latter, though generally accessible in dry weather, turned into a morass when it rained and had to be made fit for heavy military traffic.

Of health problems, the chief was water supply, for the island is without streams or surface water and therefore dependent on stored rainwater and shallow wells.

But even wells freshly dug by the troops were found to be contaminated with the colon bacillus, indicating a common cen tral underground source. So water had to be decontaminated. Had permanent occupation been contemplated, it would have been possible to tap underground freshwater streams which run into the sea at or below sea-level.

A second handicap to be overcome was native disregard of sanitary precautions, not due to ignorance but indifference. A senior American medical officer observed that though plenty of Tongans would have been capable of writing excellent papers on hygiene, acting up to them was quite another matter. At his request, the local Administration readily agreed to a system of constant inspection and prompt punishment through the local Courts.

Dispensaries and prophylactic stations were set up and camp sites developed, while a permanent hospital was erected at Houma, near the sea. The island is syphilis-free; nor does prostitution as such exist. Efforts were therefore made to keep the island free from a milder form of venereal disease.

The civil authorities readily got the police to round up, tactfully, the few women known to be of loose character, and there was no difficulty whatever in getting their consent to being examined, or in getting them to report for follow-up treatment of their own accord in the cases where treatment was necessary.

The Americans also dissuaded the local Government from the custom of dis charging from the local defence force, soldiers who had contracted this disease; instead, they were transferred to hospital and cured without loss of caste. The result has been almost complete elimina tion of venereal disease.

One danger still threatened from out side. Troops and sailors were constantly passing through and to meet situations like this US Army doctors became quar antine officers and were able to board all visiting vessels to inspect crews and pas sengers. Only men who could show a clean bill of health were allowed ashore.

On Tonga, mosquitos are little more than a nuisance, but 90 per cent, of all mosquito-breeding on the island was eliminated by putting a comparatively small amount of metal screening around the cisterns and insect-proof covers on the wells. Flea and rat problems were similarly—and successfully—dealt with.

To keep flies from increasing, a cleanli ness campaign was instituted. It took a novel turn when the local Government was again called in. They gave publicity to the campaign not only in the official native news-sheet, but bv means of town and village criers; and Tongan Board of Health inspectors were assigned to accom pany military inspectors on their jour neyings.

Under treaty obligations and the Allied Chief of Staffs’ agreement, the United States had asrreed to take care of any civilian casualties that might result from enemy activity, if the local medical ser vice should be unable to handle them.

This obligation was complicated bv the local custom, by which a patient’s family is responsible for his food and for un skilled care while he is in hospital. The result was that a sick person reporting for treatment would arrive accompanied by most of his relatives. This local set-up would have been quickly overwhelmed in

the event of hostile invasion, and a method had to be worked out so that a rush to the nearest military hospital of a large proportion of the population would not clog the roads and interfere with mili tary requirements.

The solution was to start clinics in the larger villages in sufficient numbers to be within reach of everybody, and town criers were sent around announcing that only in those village clinics would civilian injuries be treated. To accustom Tongans to these clinics, weekly consultations were started, and within a brief period the response was gratifying. Native prac titioners—graduates of the Fiji Medical School —supervised, consulting American doctors about specially interesting or dif ficult cases. In addition, two native first aid classes were started, Queen Salote selecting the candidates herself. rE arrival of butter from New Zea land and frozen meat was welcome to the US troops after the first 40 days of tropical type B ration, supple mented by local bananas and oranges, but still there was a complete lack of fresh milk and eggs, these not being native articles of diet. However, some of the European residents had milking cows, and on the estate of an interned alien, the makings of a milking herd were found. The Tongan Government was approached and agreed to rent the estate to the US Forces.

“We enticed a number of half-wild chickens into a wired enclosure and started our egg producing plant,” said the officer in charge. “We also purchased a number of young pigs and fed them on

hospital garbage. A small garden was started and in a short while our increasing supplies of milk, eggs and garden produce were more than adequate for our immediate needs, and small sales of fresh milk, cream and eggs were made to one or two officers’ messes.

“As the cattle were fed entirely on grass, effort was made to increase their milk productivity by importing meal cake from New Zealand Much to our surprise. we could not get the cattle to eat this; neither would they eat salt. The calves, however, gave us no trouble in this regard. As warmer and drier weather came on there was a falling-off in the milk production, the cows drying up. We saw then that they were incapable of producing milk for any length of time, as ‘hey'iadto depend on what grass they 1d . T forag u TN November, 1942, ,the status of the A force seemed so uncertain that it was decided to give up the farm. Early in the previous month the need for addi-

tional troops on Guadalcanal was indi cated and the New Zealand War Cabinet was therefore asked to provide replace ments for Tonga from the Division then preparing to move to New Caledonia Though already called upon to garrison Norfolk Island, and reluctant to split up the Division still more, the request was acceded to.

In February 1943 therefore Admiral Halsey recommended the removal rt? US Forces from Toneatabu— “the stratee-ir situat i o n having changed materfally in recent months °, lth th s e occupation and mnsniidatiAn r,f b,. u.CiT; I,"

caStare“<s ™Liand

thf Aust?Lln advame ta New Gu nea "

“eVZealand was“ted tosSsume full

responsibility for Tonga's defence and

accordingly Brigadier-General Lckwwd

of the US Army, left to become island commander at Espiritu Santo, and on March 2. Brigadier F. L. Hunt, of the New Zealand Army, took over at Nukualofa.