Two Years Ago On
p. 43 · Read in the full issue
Nauru
Few Remembered the Anniversary of the Reoccupation on September 14
(From the “Nauru Times”) NAURU, Sept. 20 NOT Many people remembered that last Sunday, September 14, was the second anniversary of the reoccupa tion of Nauru. That is not surprising, perhaps, because only a sprinkling of the Australians who landed that day now remain, and among the Nauruans, more than half the population was then away in Truk.
Some facts about the reoccupation may be of interest. The actual surrender of the Japs took place on September 13, aboard the frigate HMAS Diamantina which escorted the two vessels conveying occupation troops from Torokina in Bougainville. The surrender instrument was signed by Brigadier J. R. Stevenson, DSO, on behalf of the Allies, and Naval Capt. Soeda for the Japanese. Included in the party at the surrender table was the present Administrator of Nauru, Mr.
M. Ridgway and this writer.
The Union Jack was hoisted with full ceremony on the old golf course, on the afternoon of the 14th. A guard of honour consisting of naval and military troops and a squad of Gilbert and Ellice Island native police paraded for the oc casion. Most of the native and Chinese population witnessed the ceremony.
THE boat harbour was lined with cheering Chinese, Nauruans and Gilbertese as the reconnaissance party under Lt-Col. J. L. A. Kelly DSO, accompanied by army officers and Mr.
W. V. Bott, made their initial survey on the afternoon of the 13th. Before the landing barge reached the shore the party felt certain that there were no Europeans on the island, as the only person who Mr. Bott recognised in the throng awaiting them was Mr. Ma Nai Fai, the present Government Chinese interpreter.
The landing party excercised remark able control when they set foot on the shore. The stench was indescribable and before they could reach the joyful islanders they were covered from head to foot with swarms of flies.
AFTER exchanging greetings of wel come the party proceeded along the road in the direction of the canti lever. The scene of desolation was typi cal of a battle-field or a town that had been battered for two years, but one of the worst features was the incredible filth. The air reeked with the smell of human excreta which was stored in drums encountered every ten yards or so, and thousands of rotten pumpkins exuded a sickening odour. (The Japs using the collected excreta as manure were growing pumpkins as a staple food.) The medical officer with the party ex pressed fears of an epidemic among the occupation forces if stationed amid such surroundings.
One of the first actions of the force commander was to organise a hygiene squad. Japanese, under Australian guards, were armed with DDT sprays and the settlement area was thoroughly sprayed. J Preliminary investigations revealed that °J. seven Europeans who remained after the evacuation in 1942, five died on Nauru and the other two, the Rev fibers Kayser and Clivaz, had been sent to the Carolines.
Natives and Chinese reported that the former were executed after the first Allied raid on Nauru on March 25, 1943.
The Japanese, however, insisted the five Europeans were killed by a bomb which fell in their midst.
There were only 591 Nauruans on the island, as 1,202 of them had been sent to the Carolines in mid-1943. There were 166 Chinese and 837 Gilbertese.
The Japs who surrendered comprised 2,681 troops, and 1,054 Jap and Korean labourers.
Besides the persons already mentioned in this article, others who travelled with the occupation expedition and who are
still on Nauru are: Messrs. R. B. Kirk, E. Cameron, T. H. Cude, H. Town and K. L. Wells.