Those Days Of Terror

The “days of terror, dirt and discomfort” which followed the erup tions were vividly described in PIM which reported that two Europeans, American Victor Costner, a radio officer in the ship Golden Bear, and W. W. Elworthy, a Rabaul power station engineer, and 424 villagers lost their lives.

The prelude to the disaster came with earth tremors on May 29.

These were accompanied by landslides along the Kokopo road and Matupi crater began to belch out heavy smoke. Then, the following day at about 4.20 pm Vulcan Island blew up. PIM reported that “masses of smoke, steam and volcanic dust covered the sky; ashes and dust were showered over the entire countryside northwest and north of Vulcan, including Rabaul; total darkness supervened within 30 minutes. Matupi crater also became very active, shaking the town continuously. Frequent bursts of flame over Vulcan had the effect of lightning discharges, which continued all night. White hot rocks were thrown to a great height out of Vulcan crater. The town was literally smothered in dust—people could not see more than a few yards”. Rabaul was rapidly evacuated and by June 8 there was a row going on between the administration and the townspeople over the former’s instructions for a return to Rabaul. Seventy-five women and children left on June 9 for Australia.