Kolombangara Surveying a forgotten Second World War fortress

Early this year, a team set out to survey long- overlooked fortifications on the island of Kolombangara. Their work is shedding new light on preparations to repel an anticipated Allied invasion, as Nikolaus Hochstein Cox reveals.

ABOVE An expedition to Kolombangara resulted in a series of Second World War Japanese tunnels

being surveyed for the first time. Here, Nikolaus Cox Hochstein Nikolaus Martin Potts; Hochstein Cox and Andy Hawkins examine what

appears to have been an air-raid shelter. IMAGES:

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LEFT Kolombangara today. Its summit towers over the neighbouring atolls.

refusal to yield Japanese-held territory without a fight. From June 1943, this Hiroshiman cavalry officer and tank commander led Japan’s ‘Southern Detachment’, which was tasked with mounting delaying actions on and Arundel (now Kohiqo) Islands, south of Kolombangara. Sasaki managed to hold off four Allied divisions with a significantly smaller and under-equipped Japanese contingent for a remarkable length of time. However, on 5 , after the Americans

Martin Potts had taken New Georgia’s Munda airfield, Sasaki fell back to Kolombangara.

PHOTO: PHOTO: Alongside his command, surviving he battle for the Solomon compelling its Japanese occupiers to documents indicate he withdrew the 13th Islands remains one of the evacuate. In their haste to escape, they and 229th Infantry Regiment, 10th, 52nd, Second World War’s most abandoned everything too heavy to carry and 58th Artillery Battalion, 17th Military important campaigns in within dugouts prepared to repel an Police (the notorious Kempei-tai), and the Pacific Theatre. It halted invasion that never came. the 8th Combined SNLF – a detachment Imperial Japan’s advance and brought the Those artefacts lay untouched for of the Kaigun Tokubetsu Rikusentai, or firstT Allied victories on land. Following the 77 years, before being rediscovered Special Naval Landing Force (SNLF), of the devastating Japanese defeat at Midway, by an archaeological expedition in . Allied landings on the Solomon Island February 2020. It was led by Nikolaus This increased the Kolombangara of on 7 August 1942 struck Hochstein Cox, who had been working garrison to 12,000 men. The island’s the next blow against the Axis forces. The as a Cambridge Archaeological Unit north-eastern coast became the 229th ensuing island-hopping jungle fighting archaeologist, and consisted of Major Infantry’s regimental headquarters, which between Allied soldiers and outnumbered (retired) Andy Hawkins, MBE QGM, monitored enemy activity in ‘The Slot’ – but tenacious Japanese occupiers has conflict archaeologist and Durand Group the wartime nickname for New Georgia become infamous. Traces of this brutal founding member, and Martin Potts, Sound. Meanwhile, Kolombangara’s episode linger as coral-encrusted expedition cameraman. southern shore hosted a combined army shipwrecks and an annual ‘iron harvest’ of This survey came about after Nikolaus’ and navy presence focused on an airfield unexploded shells. For all the fame of the friend Robert Prebble worked on beside the Vila River. This became the Solomon Islands campaign, though, parts Kolombangara in 1995, becoming the first hub of Japanese control in the Western of this story remain untold – moments non-islander to be shown a stone-carved Province, hosting the 13th Infantry’s never recorded by the Allies nor discussed dugout, which Prebble remembered being regimental headquarters, alongside by the defeated Japanese; a legacy of littered with artefacts and described as the artillery battalions and Kempei-tai, occupation known only from forgotten a Japanese field hospital. Despite this the 12th Company of the 229th, and ruins in deep rainforest. first-hand account of significant remains, reputedly the Navy’s own 8th Combined there was little published information SNLF. Such tempting targets attracted Island conflict about how the island slotted into the daily Allied artillery and aerial attacks. archaeology larger picture of the Second World War With New Georgia and Arundel in Allied Kolombangara is conspicuous among – Kolombangara had been relegated hands, Sasaki assumed that Kolombangara the Solomon Islands’ Western Province. to the footnotes of military history. would be next. Previously, the Allied Its jungle-covered slopes rise to a cloud- But even from this sparce evidence a strategy had been to advance one island shrouded summit 1,770m above sea level, story eventually emerged, involving at a time without ‘leapfrogging’ Japanese- leaving it towering above the surrounding a determined Japanese general, and a occupied territory, making Kolombangara atolls. In late 1943, Kolombangara became mystery concerning a unit of troops the clear target. Sasaki’s men dug in, the seat of Imperial Japanese power in among his force. constructing gun emplacements and the Solomon Islands and was fortified to dugouts to protect the airfield and resist the Allied advance northwards until Fortress Kolombangara garrison. Allied intelligence – in the form Japan’s fortunes could be restored. This Throughout the Solomon Islands of maps now available in the National ‘turning point’ was not to be, however, Campaign, General Minoru (Noboru) Archives as well as Cambridge’s University and by August 1943 Kolombangara was Sasaki was renowned, even by the Allied Library (accessed by Amy Bigwood, encircled by Allied forces, eventually forces whose advance he stymied, for his expedition researcher) – followed this

www.world-archaeology.com CurrentWorldArchaeology 31 LEFT General Minoru Sasaki, seen here in a photograph taken in 1939,

was responsible for the defence of the Solomon Islands. Cox Hochstein / Nikolaus Matzliach David by and edited colour to restored photo ABOVE Survey revealed a series of six dugouts in the jungle at Teme, to

the east of the main concentration of Japanese forces at the Vila airfield. IMAGES: defensive build-up with interest, plotting slaughter. His men were exhausted to ‘wither on the vine’, but 12,000 troops the positions of the gun emplacements, and suffering the effects of prolonged amounted to a force the Imperial General the hospitals and living quarters, vessel combat in gruelling conditions against Headquarters could not afford to abandon. moorings, and aircraft disbursement a determined enemy. So Halsey decided During the night, from 28 September to grounds. One notable absence from these to bypass Kolombangara and strike the 3 October 1943, the entire garrison was Allied maps, though, is the position of lightly defended enemy positions on evacuated in Daihatsu landing barges and the SNLF unit supposedly deployed to the Island, to the northwest, torpedo boats, which ran the gauntlet of island. If this formidable fighting force thereby sparing his men the ordeal of watchful American cruisers in The Slot. had participated in preparations for the assaulting the fortified nexus of Japanese The evacuation proved costly for the defence of Kolombangara, where was it operations. This plan was executed on 12 Japanese; 29 small boats were sunk and based? August, when an assault on Vella Lavella one destroyer was damaged, but 9,400 saw its disorganised defenders overrun. men were rescued. These survivors were Wither on the vine Success allowed the Allies to consolidate redeployed to Bougainville, where they As it turned out, the Japanese soldiers their control of the surrounding islands, continued to resist the Allies until Japan’s on Kolombangara laboured in vain. leaving Kolombangara’s 12,000 defenders capitulation in 1945. American Admiral Halsey had seen his untouched, but also isolated from their men suffer appalling casualties on New nearest comrades at Bougainville. Sasaki’s legacy Georgia and wished to avoid further Halsey expected the surrounded soldiers Just as General Sasaki faded into obscurity after the war, so too his measures to defend Kolombangara disappeared beneath its jungle. Although the 1st Battalion, 27th Infantry (United States Army) came ashore three days after the Japanese evacuation, they moved on swiftly, finding only discarded artillery pieces, abandoned Mitsubishi Zeroes on the runway, and Japanese troops who had been too unwell to evacuate. The Americans turned the island over to a contingent of Fijian soldiers, who in turn handed it back to British colonial

LEFT Although the subterranean elements of the dugouts generally survived well, in most cases the entrance ways had collapsed. This one leads into a

passage named Snake Tunnel by the survey team. In Martin Potts this case, though, opening the entrance revealed the

tunnel immediately beyond was flooded. PHOTO:

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endured, in the form of dugouts that were burrowed into the hills of Teme and replete with in-situ artefacts. According to the allied maps, this area to the east of the Vila was never considered an enemy strongpoint. But it appeared possible that the dugout Robert visited in 1995 was part of an extensive subterranean defensive system. To assess this, contact was made with a local landowner, Stenrick Riapitu, and it was agreed that we would undertake the first archaeological survey of his land. Five dugouts at Teme Between 28 February and 14 March 2020, our survey located six Japanese dugouts and we entered five. All six dugouts ran along the inland face of a coastal ridge, on a southeast to northwest trajectory. This ridge comprises resilient igneous rock, allowing most of the stone-carved passages within to survive 77 years of disrepair, even though many of the entrances – dug into softer topsoil – had collapsed. In all cases these subterranean structures had two access points, ensuring that occupants would not become trapped if one was captured or blocked during fighting. Examining the dugouts indicated each structure served a specific wartime purpose. We employed an identical survey process in all of the dugouts. Andy and Martin photographed the artefacts in-situ, while Nikolaus recorded the minimum number of each artefact type visible. ABOVE The mouth of the tunnel leading to the quartermaster’s store. Within lay both high-explosive artillery Unique items were extracted and cleaned shells, to supply coastal gun batteries, and more humdrum items, including water canteens, medicine bottles, outside. Martin took scaled shots of these Dai Nippon beer bottles, and a toothbrush (just in front of the more distant water canteen), which still lay artefacts, as well as photogrammetry where they had been abandoned, nearly 80 years ago. photos, allowing them to be rendered in authorities. For the British, Kolombangara 3D, so that their shape could be recreated was a place of lucrative plantations; former for post-excavation analysis without Japanese fortifications on the swampy the original object being removed from land between the Vila and Teme region Kolombangara. Andy and Nikolaus also were of no significance. planned the dugouts and determined By 2020, when Nikolaus contacted their depth. Finally, all of the artefacts that Ferguson Vaghi – the director of the had been extracted were returned to their Kolombangara Island Biodiversity original positions. It had been agreed with Conservation Association – about Stenrick that the team would not retain xxxxx the potential for undertaking conflict any objects. archaeology, the jungle had long since To start at the south-eastern-most obscured the derelict Zeroes, while in the dugout on the ridge, investigation early 2000s Bougainville rebels reportedly revealed it contains three carved alcoves

Andy Hawkins and Martin Potts Andy Hawkins seized the littoral anti-aircraft guns. where military equipment was stored. Even so, elements of Sasaki’s defensive The alcove closest to the south entrance,

PHOTOS: PHOTOS: preparations were rumoured to have which offers rapid access to the shore,

www.world-archaeology.com CurrentWorldArchaeology 33 chamber served as an air-raid shelter. A short tunnel lay at its far end, providing storage space for weapons or food. No artefacts were found there; evidently the air-raid shelter’s supplies were taken during the evacuation. The next dugout contains two storage alcoves reminiscent of those in the quartermaster’s store, and seemingly acted as an ammunition store. There, as in all five dugouts, sheets of corrugated iron roofing still hang in places, while vertical slots were carved into the walls where wooden posts were once inserted to support this roof. Although mud had built up over the original floor, we spotted eight hand grenades – with more presumably lying invisible within the earth – and two cylinders that probably contain TNT: an explosive. We suspect this played a part in Japanese preparations to boobytrap the dugouts during the evacuation – preparations that were thankfully never finalised. Both of the entrances to the following dugout had collapsed. Although a day of excavation proved sufficient to clear Nikolaus Hochstein Cox Hochstein Nikolaus other clogged access points, in this case

heavy seasonal rains frustrated our efforts, IMAGE: meaning this dugout remains sealed. still contains 37mm armour-piercing ABOVE The five tunnels entered by the survey team. Next is the field dressing station, which high-explosive shells. These munitions The icons indicate where specific artefacts were was shown to Robert Prebble in 1995. located, and can represent the presence of one or were stockpiled there so the defenders, Though locally called the ‘hospital’, the more items. who expected an amphibious Allied space is too small to cater for a garrison BELOW A cylinder of what appears to be TNT, assault, could run the shells to coastal which may testify to an abortive attempt to of 12,000 men. Indeed, Allied records gun emplacements. The other two alcoves boobytrap the tunnel. indicate a larger field hospital inland lay deeper within the dugout; these contain glass sake and Dai-Nippon beer bottles, medicine bottles, aluminium Navy water canteens, hand grenades, 6.5mm bullet cartridges, Type 93 No. 3 gasmasks and filters, belt buckles, and bakelite toothbrushes. This assortment of small arms and military-issue personal equipment identifies the dugout as the quartermaster’s store; when Japanese servicemen needed ammunition, replacement gasmasks, or even a new toothbrush, they came here. Following the ridge northwest leads us to another dugout. Although much of its tunnel has collapsed, a domed- roofed chamber opening off the passage remains intact. Within, benches had been Andy Hawkins carved out of the stone, allowing troops

somewhere to sit, suggesting that this PHOTO:

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LEFT A narrow passage at the rear of the field dressing station appears to have served as a surgery. A surgical stand and leg brace are still present, while stretcher beds lie at the far end (INSET).

from the Vila served that purpose. The was still incomplete dressing station was instead presumably when the evacuation intended to provide immediate medical occurred. assistance to the men defending the Another find from Teme rainforest perimeter. The ground Snake Tunnel was a outside the dugout is littered with beer porcelain sake bowl. and sake bottles, as well as the remains Although broken, its of stretcher beds. This distribution base remains intact could be explained by patients normally and carries a maker’s mark: a painting of allowing them to act as the Navy’s resting outside, and only being taken a waterfall flowing below a stratovolcano personal army. The Japanese Navy and underground for urgent treatment. A resembling Mount Fuji in Japan. Finding Army had a deep-seated mistrust of each narrow corridor at the back of the dugout this bowl amidst the military equipment other, which can be traced back to the seems to have served as a surgery, where a was humbling. While archaeologists feuding rivalry of samurai clans, making surgical stand, leg brace, and alcohol and become intimately acquainted with joint operations uncommon. In the medicine bottles were discovered. The the lives of the peoples whose sites they ’s early stages, special naval higher proportion of sake to medicine excavate, a degree of facelessness can be units launched amphibious assaults on bottles suggests that towards the end of a feature of conflict archaeology dealing the , Indonesia, Papua New the dugout’s period of use alcohol was with mass-produced military equipment. Guinea, and even the US Aleutian Islands. being utilised in operations, possibly as But discovering someone’s personal Reinforced by naval parachutist units, the anaesthetic. Another interesting feature possession, brought with him from his SNLF seized Allied airfields and overran is that the dressing station seemingly had homeland, reminds us that the ranks of garrisons wherever they landed, earning a two distinct periods of use, as the eastern even the most uniform armies are filled by fearsome reputation. wall of the ‘surgery’ had niches in the individuals. The Navy dreamed of using this shape of pickaxes and shovels carved into amphibious assault force to cross the it. Although the in-situ artefacts suggest a Who were the SNLF? Pacific and deliver Japanese victory, medical role, creating dedicated spaces to Several artefacts – the Type 93 No. 3 but the ended those hang digging equipment hints at an earlier gasmasks, Type II/III Navy Helmet, ambitions. Losing at Midway crippled use associated with tunnelling. aluminium water canteens, and jika- the Navy, limiting their inter-island We named the northernmost dugout tabi – are of particular significance, as manoeuvring capability. As Japan pivoted ‘Snake Tunnel’, which seemed appropriate they were exclusively issued to the SNLF. to the defensive and Allied air and sea from both its serpentine layout and a This discovery resolves the historical superiority grew, a naval landing force current reptilian resident, as no clear discrepancy between the written records became irrelevant – without a strong navy wartime function could be determined. indicating an SNLF unit was present on capable of offensive actions, the SNLF Unlike the other dugouts, Snake Tunnel Kolombangara, and the Allied military had little ‘special’ purpose. By the later has no chambers budding off its unusually maps, which show no trace of these months of 1943, the SNLF were being winding primary passage. Furthermore, soldiers’ quarters. Apparently, Allied assigned defensive roles protecting island a 10m length in the middle is both oddly intelligence’s focus on the Vila airfield installations. It was this unglamorous task narrow and low-roofed. Although this meant they never looked far enough east that the 8th Combined received upon tunnel was occupied, as evidenced by to detect the SNLF digging positions in the arrival in Teme. finds including a jika-tabi’s split-toed rainforest at Teme. Given the fierce inter-service rivalry,

Andy Hawkins rubber sole diagnostic of SNLF tropical The SNLF were effectively marines, the presence of SNLF artefacts at Teme uniform and an Imperial Navy Type II/ that is members of the Imperial Navy rules out the possibility of the dugouts

PHOTOS: PHOTOS: III helmet, it seems likely that the dugout who received special infantry training, being inhabited by the Army. Although

www.world-archaeology.com CurrentWorldArchaeology 35 no regimental insignia have soldiers. Allied accounts of a foe been identified, by a process of treating surrendering soldiers as elimination we can determine these sub-human are well known. As SNLF must have come from the Kure such, the disturbing consequences Naval Base in Hiroshima and the of this code provoked anti-Japanese Yokosuka Naval base in Kanagawa. sentiment throughout the war From 5 November 1942, two units and sustained stereotypes long from these bases – the 6th Kure and afterwards. A mentality to fight 7th Yokosuka – served as a single to the very last remains a source unit, the 8th Combined, under of morbid fascination for Western Rear Admiral Minoru Ohta. As the historians. But focusing on this war progressed, the consolidation aspect alone can result in the of SNLF units became increasingly Imperial Japanese being portrayed common, due to catastrophic as simply an inscrutable ‘other’ in losses inflicted by tropical disease, historical accounts. malnutrition, and combat. Seeing how the SNLF lived, slept, By August 1943, only the 8th tended their wounded, and even Combined were still active in the brushed their teeth, brings an extra New Georgia area – meaning they dimension to their story. The Teme are the only SNLF who could have tunnels and artefacts are a tangible excavated the Teme dugouts. reminder that alongside cultural The one-upmanship between practices their adversaries found the Imperial Navy and Army, hard to fathom, members of the Andy Hawkins combined with Imperial Japan’s SNLF experienced more recognisable

nationalistic militarism, inspired impulses. The archaeology suggests PHOTO: competitive ardour for the samurai soldiers who carried keepsakes code of honour – bushido. The question of ABOVE One curiosity concerning the passage where from home, sought solace in alcohol which force best embodied the samurai the surgery equipment was found concerns a series even as supplies ran low, and took refuge spirit persisted throughout the Second of niches cut into the shape of pickaxes or shovels. underground during bombardments. This may indicate that the space originally served as World War, with the SNLF ethos reflected Such awareness is invaluable for ensuring an area to store digging tools. in a 1943 intelligence report by the 2nd that the horrors and atrocities of war are US Marine Division, which attributed properly examined. In this way, conflict ‘greater tenacity and fighting spirit’ to archaeology can reveal far more than just these troops, when compared to regular A number of the artefacts found in the tunnels the nature of conflict. While our survey Imperial Japanese Army soldiers. As this – including both this aluminium water canteen has allowed us to better understand (BELOW LEFT) and Type 93 No. 3 gasmask honour code viewed capture as worse (BELOW RIGHT) – were only issued to the SNLF, the movements of Sasaki’s Southern than death, it also coloured attitudes demonstrating that they were responsible for the Detachment in 1943 and recognise towards and treatment of enemy dugouts. the previously unknown extent of edited and restored by David Matzliach David by and restored edited PHOTOS: PHOTOS:

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photo restored to colour and edited by David Matzliach / Andy Hawkins Matzliach David by and edited colour to restored photo Then and now. SNLF soldiers can be seen preparing for a chemical attack during the Battle of Shanghai in 1937 (LEFT). Today, a charcoal gasmask filter

IMAGES: IMAGES: lies among the items abandoned in the quartermaster’s store.

Kolombangara’s defensive preparations, them would only add to the roster of that he was kept abreast of discoveries we have also gained an insight into the wartime memorabilia found in collections and also advised on the procedures lives of the men of the 8th Combined worldwide. for the removal of munitions. These SNLF who, for a few months, called these Coupled with this is the desire to work artefacts belong to him and his family. jungles home. in accordance with the wishes of local It will be their decision whether any are communities. Stenrick hopes to open made available to international museum Looking back to his land and dugouts to tourists and we collections or remain in-situ as an example see forwards collaborated closely with him, ensuring of a preserved wartime site. Finding well-preserved and The discovery of personal previously unrecorded ruins rich possessions alongside military in diagnostic in-situ artefacts is an artefacts reminds us that fighting archaeologist’s dream. Our findings was only one part of these soldiers’ provide a high-resolution snapshot lives. While historical accounts of wartime life for Imperial often focus on attitudes that set the Japanese soldiers. Archaeology SNLF apart from their adversaries, working in tandem with history has the archaeology can bring greater also filled a blank in the wartime depth to their story. Through an record by determining where examination of the Teme ruins we Sasaki’s naval forces were quartered. can not only better understand We feel the Japanese military the Japanese wartime experience, possessions are an intrinsic part of but perhaps come to comprehend the dugouts, providing a window and improve the world we find into the lives of the men who were ourselves in today. stationed here. It was a conscious decision that none of these artefacts would be taken, except to photograph them in daylight ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS before returning them to their place Sincerest thanks and ngā mihi to of discovery, ensuring that their Dr Manfred Hochstein, Ron and story remains preserved. Removing Diana Scott, Dr Gino Caspari, James Jordan Winstanley, Karen and Johan Morreau, John Hooker, mum and RIGHT A painting of an SNLF soldier by dad, and Kirsten Scott for making Cassandra Dale. He is equipped with some this expedition possible. of the artefacts found at Teme, including a Type 93 No. 3 gasmask, Type II/III Navy Email: kolombangaraforgottenfortress@ Cassandra Dale Cassandra helmet, and jika-tabi boots, while holding the gmail.com

IMAGE: IMAGE: porcelain sake bowl.

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