Brandi Caves
Charlie Wintawa took me on a brief exploration of some of the surrounding hills, occupied by the Japanese. Rumurs of buried equipment persist to this day, although landslides, and the jungle make any tunnels or constructions from sixty years ago hard to spot.

Students from Brandi sometimes undertake archeological digs on the sites of known caves. As of yet they have found nothing, but Charlie is confident: "Soon, we hope to make the archeological dig of the century!"

The ingenuity of the Japanese is apparent to this day, as with the tunnels at Rabual, the Japanese here were determined to fight, and had made careful plans long ahead of time, including stockpiling and burying gear.

One example was a cave that had been filled and and several trucks driven into the entrance further blocking it. Then, the entrance was dynamited, and the trucks left burning. Excavation proved that this tunnel was mealy a decoy to divert attention from the another hiding place, or to tie down enemy troops searching a dead end.

Today, the remains of the trucks are still present, as is the sealed tunnel entrance they block

Return to Brandi | Wewak | Main Page