Thursday
, January 15th 1998
We
were up bright and early to get up to Gifu
by 9.00 a.m. to give us time to put together the list for Lawrence by
midday . Today the road to the village had dried out a lot since Tuesday,
so we were able to drive straight down instead of walk . They were expecting
us, and it was not long before rice bags full of relics were produced
and we were filming, photographing, examining, chatting and buying items
for the museum and our personal collections. Leo was also getting some
items for the Dubbo Military Museum.
There
were water bottles, mess tins, mess tin inserts, US and Japanese mess tins , rusted
bayonets , pieces of scabbard , clips of Garand ammunition , empty US grenade
bodies (and plenty of live grenades , some
with just the fuses in them to ones complete with charges levers and pins intact
- no thanks - The bomb disposal guys come around periodically to collect such
things and blow them at Lunga Point) , Arisaka rifle oil bottles , even a
US compass and an intact vial of morphine from a US medical kit . Some of the
US and Japanese field equipment had soldiers names scratched on them . I got one
US water bottle with 3 names scratched into it and 4 Japanese mess tin inserts
/ lids with names as well.
When
we had stood on Hill 27 on Tuesday we could
see that logging had thinned some of the growth in the Gifu ravines
south-east of the hill. Some of the mess tins and water bottles had
been damaged of flattened by falling trees of had fire damage from burning
off the undergrowth , while others were still in near mint condition.
One Japanese mess tin was so flat you could have slipped it under a
door because �tree fall on him�
. I guess that�s progress - they are sure to find items as they clear
the slopes but you wonder how much will be ruined....?
As
we drove� out along the track from the Gifu one villager
waved us down to offer us a Thompson sub-machine gun magazine . As we talked to
him he had in his hand a Japanese Arisaka bayonet (not for sale) in good condition with what
looked like the original wood grips still intact that he was cutting grass around
his hut with (Hill 31) .
Back
at the hotel we sorted out the items and did a list of relics for the museum and
another of what we would like to take home . I saw Lawrence at midday and was
told he had just learnt that the Minister who had to sign the permit was flying
to Auckland that afternoon to participate in Bougainville Peace talks , so couldn�t
sign it . I saw him again at 1.30 p.m. and he said he would try and get the Permanent
Secretary to sign it and that we should come back and check with him again at
1.00 p.m. on Friday .
Hoping
this would turn out okay we then drove down to the Ilu
Rriver to try and get down to the sandbar . As we drove past the
airfield there were two Royal Australian Air Force aircraft there to
take to Solomons and Bougainville delegates to New Zealand . The terminal
was sealed off and patrolled by armed police , including one on guard
in the original control tower with an automatic rifle - no stopping
for a Coke today .
The
road to the beach was still bad for a car, so be walked down , Leo and Lee discovering
the remains of a US Amphibious jeep (DUWK) in the bushes . On the West bank a
white American memorial marker stands , but as at Tetere the metal plaque has
been ripped off . Taking photos we walked along the shore West towards the Ilu
Lagoon mouth . Prior to our trip we had talked to a Melbourne ex-Marine (Platoon Sergeant George Dennis - D Company
, 1st Battalion , 1st Marine Regiment)
who fought at Ilu . Afterwards he was in charge of 8 .30 calibre machine guns
in coastal defence positions along this stretch of beach west towards the Lunga
lagoon .
The
area behind the beach of overgrown , although we did spot one rusted water tank
, probably a remnant from the 1943-45 living area that was here . Timothy was
talking to a local here , who informed us he was checking the state of the access
road as this site too had just been sold to some Korean and European businessmen
.
More
development �I felt sick . So I wonder what buildings will spring up on this site
now?
Walking
across the sandbar we came to the marble Japanese memorial to the Ichiki Battalion
on the East bank , in the area where D Company pushed through to the beach . (George�s one word description of the scene
confronting them was �terrible�) Somebody had dumped a pile of smashed Phillips
radio equipment in front of the memorial , but it least it was not defaced .
As
we� walked back along the West bank track I pointed
out the area in the brush where lots of aircraft remains were dumped . We all
plunged into the sweaty , mosquito ridden undergrowth and looked at the pits full
of various aircraft parts (engine mounts, propellers, undercarriage parts) and
sundry pieces of unidentified metal . It was very humid and the sweat and insect
repellent poured off us . After a while we emerged at the airfield road and walked
back to the taxi. At this point we watched one of the two RAAF planes take off
for Auckland . Near the current bridge across the river a sniper had shot at George
before D Company crossed .
Driving
back towards to Lunga river we turned� right
off the road just past the original control tower . I wanted to confirm to myself
that the overgrown hill that I thought the Pagoda flight control centre had stood
on was in fact the right hill . When I got to the top and looked around the lay
of the land told me that it was , even though the surrounding area was overgrown
. Trees obscured the view across to the airfield and control tower but it lined
up with wartime photos .
The
Americans built a bunker system under the hill so flight operations could continue
during air raids . Where were the entrances � I had no time to look . Definitely
a place for more exploration ....which I would have done if my mates had not been
in �we want to go back to the pool�
mode , so I was outvoted . As we left the second RAAF plane took off for New Zealand.
As
we drove back towards Honiara we went right up Kukum beach as far as we could
to the shore at a lumber yard and took some photos looking North towards Lunga
Point and West towards Point Cruz and Cape Esperance . The American coastal artillery
was sited near here . There were a couple of derelict ships on the shore from
the 1996 Typhoon . Just before we crossed the Matanikau
River we stopped at the
Honiara hospital car park and took some photos looking towards the Matanikau sandbar
, where the turret of at least one of the eight Japanese tanks knocked out on
23rd October 1942 shows out of the water at low tide .
After
that it was back to the hotel for a swim. Leo had to fly home and was
able to take some of my clothes with him , which in turn gave me room
for the relics , so in that way it worked out pretty well, but it was a pity he couldn't stay . He left a pack and some
water bottles as a gift for Timothy . This was very much appreciated
by him. His 2 kids at once claimed two of the bottles to take to school
. Leigh and I stayed till Sunday .
Return
to January 1998 Main Page
