But

MapLat 3°22'45.10"S Long 143°13'7.22"E  Located on the north coast of New Guinea, to the west of Dagua and Wewak.

But Airfield (But West)
Japanese built airfield near But village. Netralized by Allied aerial attacks. Abandoned today.

Ki-46-II Dinah Constructor Number 2406

Japanese Memorial at But
Click For Enlargement
Pennefather 1972
Click For Enlargement
Justin Taylan 2004

A Japanese memorial to their war dead, on the road east of But Airfield. The reverse side of the memorial reads in english: "To console all countries. January 1971. Mrs. A. Kamei Nara, Japan has founded Late Bravious Solderi's Soles"

Dave Pennefather recalls:
"There is an interesting story here. When the Japanese arrived at But in 1942 they were greeted by the parish Priest who was German – and presumably an ally of theirs. For reasons that have never been explained the German priest was executed and to this day his remains have never been recovered. Then in 1971 a party of Japanese arrived at But and asked the incumbent parish priest if they could build their memorial on the missions land. When they spoke to the priest they did so in broken English. The priest, who was Dutch, replied to them in fluent Japanese. Impressed, the Japanese asked him where had he learnt their language to which the priest replied ‘I learnt your language during 4 years as a prisoner in one of your bloody concentration camps.’ The priest then went on and told them the story of the wartime execution and concluded by telling them that he would never give them permission to build their memorial on his missions land. That is why you will find this memorial on village land down by the road side near the beach.

Bai
End of the servicable road that went from Wewak as far as Bai, further to the west towards AitapeThe road was prone to flooding. A line of abandoned Japanese trucks is in the vicinity.

 


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