When the war came to our ples

 

Book review by Patrick Matbob

https://www.postcourier.com.pg/when-the-war-came-to-our-ples/

Reading the accounts of ordinary Papua New Guineans caught up in a terrifying war unleashed on them with powerful weapons and war machines, is an emotional journey.  It is a journey that Australian author Kevin Deutrom, a former resident of PNG, had almost unintentionally, yet gratefully for us, captured in his newly published book When the war came to our ples: Some stories from the Momase region of PNG.

Deutrom had been on a mission to find out something different about the war in PNG when he conducted his interviews in the late 1980s in Madang and East Sepik with people who had experienced the war. He wanted to verify whether there were Indian prisoners of war in New Guinea who were captured by the Japanese in Asia and used as laborers for their war effort. 

 

 Author Kevin Deutrom and one of his interviewee Koi Iugum, who also has his story in the book. Picture taken 1989.

In the process, he did not only confirm the presence of the Indian prisoners of war in PNG, but documented the stories of the Papua New Guineans who either worked for the Japanese or the Allied forces, or both, and their experiences being caught up in the conflict. A book with such stories is rare, and apart from the exploits of war heroes like Simogun, Yauwiga, Golpak, Yali and Oimbari, many others remained unknown.

What makes these 49 stories special is that they are told in the words of those interviewed who were allowed to speak uninterrupted. The author later translated the stories into English.   

Nothing prepared me for the stories I read. I would be amazed by the exploits of some of the men, angered by how others were mistreated by the occupying forces, shed a tear with the simple villagers who cried when the Indian POW escapees they cared for were killed, and smiled at the encounters some had which they could not comprehend.

And here are some of the experiences of the ordinary Papua New Guineans.

Kaut Malok of Kauris village, Madang, was forced to work with the Japanese and because of that was to suffer at the hands of the Allied forces.

“On Monday I went to Bilia, which was the Government Station, and reported. They arrested me and the police officer in charge ‘beat me’ over a period of a week, and my mouth was bleeding badly. He was very angry because I had followed the Japanese, worked with them, and because of what I had done to the pilot.” (An American pilot who was shot down by the Japanese and had parachuted into the jungles was found and hidden by the natives, but the Japanese later captured him and beheaded him).

 “You know I never wanted to join the Japanese, and on my first contact with the Japanese, they had decided to behead me. This was at Kauris, and my grave was already dug and all our people had gathered and were praying, and the soldiers collected me and took me to the site.

“While I was standing by the hole the Kempei in charge asked me ‘if I had any last words to say?’ I replied, ‘I do not have any last words as such, and if you want to kill me go ahead, but you should remember that my blood will be on your hands and when you die you will be judged on that.’ The Kempei stared at me when I said that and said, ‘you are a bad man, just leave.’ I then told the people, ‘let’s go home, they don’t want to kill me’.

Sangai Grianmu of Babangaua village had a pleasant surprise. He was working in Rabaul when the war came and was shipped to Milne Bay as a Japanese laborer but then ran away and join the Allied forces to fight the Japanese and shares his first ever experience of riding in an amphibious vehicle.

“After the small boat was fully loaded with men it then motored toward the shore, and what shocked us was that when the boat got on the beach we realized that there were wheels underneath the boat and it was travelling on dry land as well!” (p.388).

Matai Sakar of Efu village shared his last moments with an American pilot who was captured and beheaded by Japanese soldiers. “The white man looked at me and was very sad. I also was sorry and cried.” (p.288)

Henry Kaule, shares how he first came across the Indian war prisoners who had escaped from the Japanese and his family had cared for them.

“When I first saw the Indians there were two of them and they had made a hiding place in the bamboos by the river. I had run into them as I had gone to find some young bamboo shoots, that’s what young children do, and as I got near them they sat up, and I got scared and ran off calling my grandparents.

“They were tall men with black skin, and very long arms and straight noses. We cooked taro, our stick taro, and yams in our clay pots, and fed them.

“After the war finished, we all returned to our villages, and when I went back to the area where we had left our friends all I found was what remained of their bones. I think they had been sick when we left them and did not survive, but we all cried, especially as they had died a long way from their homes” p.116

Maria Kaule of Kinbangwa village also shares her memories about an Indian escaped prisoner her family had cared for.

“I was a young girl of about seven years old during that time the Japanese soldiers were in our area, when my parents brought this Indian man to our place. You see my father had found him hiding in the bush and decided to look after him, so he built him a little house not far from ours and he always had his meal with us.

“I also remember that the man gave me a little saucepan as a present and that the saucepan was not like the ones we now use, it was small, made of copper and had a lid. My aunty still has it.”

 

  Book cover of When the War came to our Ples: Some stories from the Momase region of PNG.

There were war heroes too, men such as Nabura Banini of Bogia who was decorated for his heroic deeds. He joined the colonial police force when the war came, and is one of the few in the book whose exploits are officially documented. His citation reads: Citation for Nabura Corporal 2585. AKA Nabuka. “By his outstanding work with the ANGAU Detachment at Arawe, Corporal Nabura has enhanced an excellent record of service in other fields of combat. On 19 Dec 43, Corporal Nabura was a member of a patrol led by Capt JD McLeod of ANGAU which was intercepted by a superior enemy force a Cape Peiho, New Britain, and after a short fight forced to abandon their barges and escape into a mangrove swamp. Corporal Nabura who had received two bullet wounds managed to swim ashore but became separated from the main body of the patrol. He displayed commendable fortitude and determination to make his way through the enemy-occupied territory and bring news of the disaster to the ANGAU Detachment. This journey occupied six days and was made without food and mostly through mangrove and sac-sac (sago) swamp. Awarded Papua New Guinea Valour badge number 1 on 16/07/1944. Presented, September 1945. Also awarded the 1939-45 Star, Pacific Star, War Medal, Australian Service Medal, and Police Long Service and Good Conduct Medal (1958).

The book contains the war experiences of ordinary people who told these stories more than 40 years after the war. The author has made attempts to verify the stories wherever possible, not so much to confirm the details in each of the stories, which would be an impossible task for obvious reasons, but to confirm the dates and names of government and military officers who are mentioned in the stories.

These interviews were also done, which again was co-incidental, at a time when there was a growing political push by the PNG war veterans, both laborers and soldiers, to seek compensation from the PNG and Australian governments for their war efforts. Some of the interviewees do mention these in their stories It is, however, hard to see how the push for compensation would affect the details of the stories that are often so precise and verifiable.

In any case, the author has to be commended for this book which gives a rare insight into the war experiences of ordinary Papua New Guineans. These stories would have certainly been lost if he had not done these interviews and they now become a part of the war history of PNG.

When The War Came to Our ‘Ples’

Some stories from the MOMASE Region of PNG.

Published by V. K. Deutrom

Adelaide 2021