Last Scars of the Pacific War

Although December marked the 22nd anniversary of the out break of the four-year Pacific War, old scars and old wounds still show in some parts of the Pacific. The two pictures at left show one of the last important Japanese relics to be moved from Rabaul —the former headquarters of the Imperial Japanese Navy in the South West Pacific area. The Japanese anchor insignia is cut into the concrete. The shelter-like building was on New Guinea Club ground. It has been removed to make extra parking space, For a number of years the club manager’s house was built on top of the structure. Centre, the manager of Tol plantation, on the south coast of New Britain, Mr. Tony Asanuma, points to a clearing where he recently uncovered graves of some of the 180 Australian soldiers murdered by the Japs in the notorious Tol massacre of 1942. The remains have since been removed by the War Graves Commission. At right is the Rabaul memorial, recently refurbished by the New Britain Women’s Club, to those hundreds of Australian prisoners who were aboard the “Montevido Maru” in 1942 when the ship was sunk en route to Japan. Since this photo was taken a bronze plaque has been added to the memorial.