Tarawa Tragedy

Search for Remains Unsuccessful

IT is doubtful if the remains of the 22 Britishers who were murdered on Tarawa in October, 1942, will ever be discovered.

Some time ago, the Resident Commis sioner of the Gilberts ordered a search to be made for the remains of the men in order that a decent burial might be given them, and a New Zealand officer was given the task of trying to locate the spot where they had been buried.

Apparently, no natives actually wit nessed the atrocity, although a native teacher. Josefa, was able to indicate the place where he had seen the bodies lying in a deep pit.

The pit was no longer there, but an American officer in charge of the unit in the area said that when he had taken over the position there had been a deep hole at that point—although he had not noticed anything unusual about it.

The whole island had been so badly knocked ab'out by shells and bombs that everything had been changed beyond recognition and the US officer had used a bulldozer to fill in that particular excavation.

Coconut tree trunks and roots, buried in the coral sand, would now make it very difficult to excavate in that area and, even if this were done, it is extremely unlikely that the remains would be found.