This Hill Is Just a Park

Park of Cards

From a Lae Correspondent Stories of Mt. Lunamen, which runs from the top to the bottom of this town, have often appeared in the news. The latest, which received wide publicity in the Australian Press in November, comes mainly into the “fancy that!” category, and seems to suggest that someone has pulled somebody else’s leg.

According to the widely publicised story, Mt. Lunamen, or the “Hill”, probably contains; • 3,000 Japanese bodies; • Loot from Lae; • A hospital and much valuable equipment; • Two Americans; « A group of Australians; and • A possible gold mine, A Mr. Al. McDonald, from the Northern Territory, who claims he bought the “Hill” for £1 from the Commonwealth Disposals Com mission in 1946, says, according to the widely publicised story, he in tends to apply for permission to open the mountain and take possession of everything inside, ex cept the Japanese bodies, “which belong to the Japanese Govern ment.” He has been reported as say ing that one of the conditions of the sale was that he couldn’t re open the hill without Common

wealth permission.

The Facts

However, it’s a safe bet here that no District Commissioner will give Mr. McDonald permission to open the mountain, with a bulldozer (as

Mr. McDonald plans), or anything else.

The facts are these: Mr. Peter Ah Tun, of Lae, who was a go-between of the Chinese and the Japanese, says the Japs used the “Hill” a few times as a shelter if an air raid was in pro gress, but the passage was only wide enough for two men to pass at a time. Allied bombing once caused an earth slide and some Japs were buried, but they were quickly dug out.

Any other suggestions as to its use, and any other suggestion of its contents, are laughed to scorn by Mr. Ah Tun.

A shelter built around the solid centre ensured an exit even if part of the shelter were cut off.

In short, there is no mystery about Mt. Lunamen.

The entrance to the one-time shelter is practically on the main road, and once there was a house just above it. The house has since been torn down, but the water pipe which remains shows that someone lived just above the “tomb of the living dead”.

The hill won’t contain anything that anybody will be especially in terested in—loot, bodies, a hospital or a goldmine.

This is Lae's Mt. Lunamen, said to contain a "hospital and possibly a gold mine". The photograph was taken in November from the rear of the Hotel Cecil by Lae correspondent Pat Robertson.