DOCSLIB.ORG

Center for Pacific War Studies Jimmy Bennett

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Center for Pacific War Studies Jimmy Bennett The National Museum of the Pacific War (Admiral Nimitz Museum) Center for Pacific War Studies Fredericksburg, Texas An Interview With Jimmy Bennett 43rd Native Scout Infantry Division 8” Combat Engineers Munda, New Georgia, Solomon Islands interview ivith Jnm; Bennett Richard Misenhimer 1th ‘tW” fr Mv name is Rwlinrd fl’wnhimer Tnd:n iS :LtW.iSt 1 T’ni çniru iii:: jjypny Bcq’iieii in lii’: honie in ‘v!un:l” Ncw (leoria Solomon T’landc ‘us mailing actdrrs•; i’: are of po:;t nfljre Mup&i New Gcnnzia W’cqz’n; Prnvinrc ‘:ilruiirii T’:bn&: T!ii’ inw’r.iew is in support of the National Museum of,!’” Pacific Wars Center 11w Pacifir War c,ttcl:ec Ptr the pre’wrv:ition oflucioncal mflwmaiioii rrlatrd to World War U Jimniv T want to thin!: you lbr tpt iiig lime to do this ‘cday Jimmy Bennett Okay Mr. Misenhimer ! ci inc :t ;ic von where were you born? 2a. Bennett T was horn hrr.’ in May 17, 1922 And T war brought up in •iib mcsion 1;chcio!n ttire. Th:t wrs during tir peace time Thcii the war time I was r snun &so viith rw fderc here. fted Bisili Both of us scout ;:nd kink after old people. Mr. Misenhimer When did you 9nish school here’ Mt BennetL Schoo!. we could wa’k out rniyr!me it w;:s ii the peace time. And T cf1 scioo wS’n I was about ten years old. r ;t.o’l educ:itec! elf’ Mr. Misenhimer That did voti do after that’ Mr. Bennett I went to work with to work with 911! Phills at (iro in the &ilp. &e &&g!r ship wor!d,v on the wharik there collect :ng copra and buying cocke shets. Mr. Misenkliner ‘Wtiat did nafl’nts do” 1 Mr. Bennett He was one of the old timers, came in the Solomon Islands and got married with my mother. He works for a company like Lever Brothers with Norman Whitley. When I was about five years old he went back home and didn’t come back. He’s dead to us. Mr. Misenhimer How many brothers and sisters did you have? Mr. Bennett I have two brothers and four sisters. Now we were married. Mr. Misenhimer How many children do you have? Mr. Bennett We have six children and about twenty grandchildren. Mr. Misenhimer Big family’ Mr. Bennett Oh, yes. Mr. Misenhimer Now when the Japanese came, you remember about when they came and what happened then? Mr. Bennett When they came, you would know the Japs were coming because everyday we would see one oftheir planes. They used to circle around Munda, so we would know the Japs would be here soon. So we prepare our house in the bushes; move everything that we could get with us, and stay up in the bushes. Mr. Misenhimer When was that? What year? Mr. Bennett 1942.And like I say, me and my friend here, would be over on Rendova pig hunting. In the middle of the night we could see all of the lights of Munda Bar. Mr. Misenhimer Okay. Mr. Bennett 2 Watch here and there and Munda Bar, no where was there a Japanese ship. So back on our course again back to Munda. When we got here, no body at home, they all families out in the bush, so we follow them up the next morning and we tell them the Japs were in Munda now. Mr. Misenhimer What month was that, do you know? Mr. Bennett November of ‘42 Mr. Misenhimer Well now, the invasion was in August so it must have been before that. Mr. Bennett ‘43. They were chased out from Guadalcanal. They went straight down to Bouganville to prepare there and came to Munda. Mr. Misenhimer They came here after Guadalcanal? Mr. Bennett November of ‘42. Mr. Misenhimer November of ‘42, right. Then once you all went to the bush, then what did you do? Mr. Bennett We follow them up, the Japs were here, at Munda, we keep on moving where ever scouts our contractors are the family and me and he and some of the scouts would keep an eye on the Japanese when they moving. Once we contact our family in the bushes we tell them to keep on moving, keep on moving, just make a little house in the bush. Keep on moving until you get to the far end ofthe Lagoon and stay right there, my family were there and they look after them. We stayed there until the Americans arrived here. Mr. Misenhimer Did anybody work for the Japanese here? Mr. Bennett No, not one of us, we got a strong warning from our District Officer, the British man, Mr. Kennedy. Kennedy was at Seghe. Mr. Misenhimer 3 flon Kennedy z.,ir. itnCfifltn..ss Kennedy gave us a strong warning not to go anywhere near the laps, they are the enemy. Any one that go might get (lie belt. Anyone make a mistake during the war, he put them on a truck and belt tile daylights out oflhcm. So we were seared. We never did go ner the laps. But this friend of mine got caught once, he was a scout, the laps caught him somewhere up here, but he knows his way,, he took ofl’and the laps didn’t ever find him again. Mr. Misenh(mer What did the Japanese do when they came, try to build an) air-ports? Mr. Bennett They don’t start right away. They are clearing the bottom, the surface lefl all the cocoflut trees standing. for the American planes don’t reconnive they are budiig an airport. They destrnyed everything, IdIl all the plants. eat all our pigs. and destroy our gardens. We were to1d to 1.’c.’p away from (11cm. ‘14.,II. a*tatinnnt*S2 What did you all !ia”e to eat thai? flfl—aalflan,td_ We have some friends and relatives, everywhete “e md COVC4itIt and seeds. ?!:t saved us a lot, and if we doii’t have anythhig in the garden. !ike 1eS and md to cat VCgCtEh 9ota!oec we coconuts and (hat helps lot. Most ofthe o!d te are dyng, there is us a peop no featment Mr. Misenhbier Now about how many people from here went down thor” Mr. Bennett A let ofus. Lye or six-hundred ofus from the Munda area. Most ofthe other sIde to ‘Jo ta T agoon. they t!’& pprents 1e were t’ere. Vcnc Thcat’s “here had rd the-’ peop Mr. Misenhime’ VScm dd il-c Aaiwreans co:m? 5:,,. , a :vtt. sSCflBCn The 4,’icrcan rc in July The ‘3cots were there to see Vt e inec “e ‘i”re to!d. No. we don’t get the news fhim anybo’y. we don’t :ww the A’ier!ecrs are con*z. ig can see the iecr p’tnes ,,:nd then one day we saw V’ei- destroyers ad u arsNps pt 4 everything and they landed at Rendova. So we knew that the Americans we’re there, so only Scouts and Carriers come to meet them at Mburuko Port and help show them the way. This 43M friend, Manuel. was the first one to be with the Engr. I stayed behind to look after my parents. Most ofthe kids were smaller and my mother was very old, and about a week later this man, Esau Hide. asked me to join with him at Janiina. We stayed there with the 43” Infantry 18th and we both were vorking with the I Engr. Ofthe 43” Division, 3”’ Platoon. Because both me and him know this place because we were born here, and know ‘itch ay to build the roads behind the infantry,. We show tkein what way to go. which way not to go, sharp; here. hills there, just behind the infantry. When they were held up, we stopped too. Most of;our friends were shot, killed. We got shot a lots oftimes. We could hear the bullets going chh cliii chit. We would lay flat on the ground. Our first scrap was at Ilangana. We moved from Juniga and made a night landing at Ilangana .We moved from there to the east end of Munda Airfield. We camped there ‘til ‘var is over at Munda. Mr. Miscnhimer Did you actually lead some of the troops in to the fighting? Mr. Bennctt Yes. ‘ Mr. MiseaMmer Did you ever do any shooting yourself? Mr. Bennett Oh yes, yes. We wec both e.rmed. ‘Ye had guns, rifles, belts and hand greiiadcs. We lied a fbi! uniform. When we were near the front and we were told not to move, then we started shooting close to the front, but very careib! because some of the American soldiers were at the fro9t. Mr. Misenhimcr Were you ever almost captured by the Japanese? Mr. Bennett Most of them we saw were dead ones. We would shoot most of the live ones. They had prisoners up at Munda Point. and most ofthen “ere Filipino laborers, you know, building the Airfleld at Munda. There was nearly a thousand ofthem, but they all died, starving and Japanese treat them in a bad way. American bombing day alter day killed most fo them. Filipinos and Malaitans and all those laborers from the country. Japanese brought them here toMunda to help 5 build the airfield. Mr. Misenhhner Did you see many fights between airp!anes? Mr. Bennett Oh, plenty of fighting around here, bombs. This man, Esau Hide, shot at the plane once here.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • PDF for Download
    THE AUSTRALIAN WAR MEMORIAL National Collection Development Plan The Australian War Memorial commemorates the sacrifice of Australian servicemen and servicewomen who have died in war. Its mission is to help Australians to remember, interpret and understand the Australian experience of war and its enduring impact on Australian society. The Memorial was conceived as a shrine, museum and archive that supports commemoration through understanding. Its development through the years has remained consistent with this concept. Today the Memorial is a commemorative centrepiece; a museum, housing world-class exhibitions and a diverse collection of material relating to the Australian experience of war; and an archive holding extensive official and unofficial documents, diaries and papers, making the Memorial a centre of research for Australian military history. The Australian War Records Section Trophy Store at Peronne. AWM E03684 The National Collection The Australian War Memorial houses one of Australia’s most significant museum collections. Consisting of historical material relating to Australian military history, the National Collection is one of the most important means by which the Memorial presents the stories of Australians who served in war. The National Collection is used to support exhibitions in the permanent galleries, temporary and travelling exhibitions, education and public programs, and the Memorial’s website. Today, over four million items record the details of Australia’s involvement in military conflicts from colonial times to the present day. Donating to the National Collection The National Collection is developed largely by donations received from serving or former members of Australia’s military forces and their families. These items come to the Memorial as direct donations or bequests, or as donations under the Cultural Gifts program.
    [Show full text]
  • Thank God Such Men Lived
    Thank God Such Men Lived BY KEN WRIGHT ‘For I am writing not history, and the truth is that the most brilliant exploits often tell us nothing of the virtues of the men who performed them, while on the other hand, a chance remark or a joke may reveal far more of a mans character than the mere feat of winning battles in which thousands fall or of the marshalling of great armies or laying siege to cities’ - Greek philosopher Plutarch, about 110 AD The Coastwatchers Memorial Lighthouse was erected by public subscription and by money from the Commonwealth of Australia in 1959 at Kalibobo Point in Madang, Papua New Guinea. Shaped like a rocket or a bomb, the 80-feet high reinforced concrete column has an attractive base surround and a cruciform pathway approach. This memorial lighthouse was also designed to be a practical navigational aid with provision for the installation of a powerful one million candlepower beam that would be visible up to ten miles out to sea. Part of the inscription on the dedication plate reads: ‘In honour and grateful memory of the Coastwatchers and of the loyal natives who assisted them in their heroic service behind enemy lines during the Second World War in providing intelligence vital to the conduct of Allied operations. Not only did the Coastwatchers transmit by means of teleradio from their jungle hideouts information which led to the sinking of numerous enemy warships but they were able to give timely warning of impending enemy air attacks. The contribution towards the Allied victory in the Pacific by a small body of men who constituted the Coastwatchers was out of all proportion to their numbers’.
    [Show full text]
  • Necessary Chicanery : Operation Kingfisher's
    NECESSARY CHICANERY: OPERATION KINGFISHER’S CANCELLATION AND INTER-ALLIED RIVALRY Gary Followill Z3364691 A thesis in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters by Research University of New South Wales UNSW Canberra 17 January 2020 1 Thesis/Dissertation Sheet Australia's Global University Surname/Family Name Followill Given Name/s GaryDwain Abbreviation for degree as give in the University calendar MA Faculty AOFA School HASS Thesis Title Necessary Chicanery: Operation Kingfisher'scancellation and inter-allied rivalry Abstract 350 words maximum: (PLEASE TYPE) This thesis examines the cancellation of 'Operation Kingfisher' (the planned rescue of Allied prisoners of war from Sandakan, Borneo, in 1945) in the context of the relationship of the wartime leaders of the United States, Britain and Australia and their actions towards each other. It looks at the co-operation between Special Operations Australia, Special Operations Executive of Britain and the US Officeof Strategic Services and their actions with and against each other during the Pacific War. Based on hithertounused archival sources, it argues that the cancellation of 'Kingfisher' - and the failure to rescue the Sandakan prisoners - can be explained by the motivations, decisions and actions of particular British officers in the interplay of the wartime alliance. The politics of wartime alliances played out at both the level of grand strategy but also in interaction between officers within the planning headquarters in the Southwest Pacific Area, with severe implications for those most directly affected. Declaration relating to disposition of project thesis/dissertation I hereby grant to the University of New South Wales or its agents the right to archive and to make available my thesis or dissertation in whole or in part in the University libraries in all forms of media, now or here afterknow n, subject to the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968.
    [Show full text]
  • From the Beach Bliss of Gizo to the Aquamarine Waters of Tropical Tavanipupu, the Solomon Islands Will Make You Swoon
    A native ROMANCE BY ROSHAN SUKHLA From the beach bliss of Gizo to the aquamarine waters of tropical Tavanipupu, the Solomon Islands will make you swoon. hat’s that saying about finding from the everyday, yet only a three-hour flight from something when you least expect it? Australia. My perfect piece of matrimonial paradise is WWell here I am, I definitely wasn’t looking located on the beautiful Small Naru sandbar in the for it, but I’ve found it. It’s small and intimate, yet middle of the ocean near Gizo in the Western sparse and infinite. It’s secluded and open, yet Province of the country. It’s the ideal site for a simple and magnificent. As the sun sets, shades of low-key, high-romance celebration. Just the perfect pink and purple are strewn across the sky, and I spot to invite a few close family and friends to know I’ve found it – I’ve found my dream wedding celebrate the most important commitment you’ll destination. make in your life. All that’s left to do now is to find a I’m here in the Solomon Islands, a world away husband-to-be – that shouldn’t be too hard! –194– vacationsmag.com vacationsmag.com –195– ISLAND culture Clockwise from left: Kakabona Cultural Village in Honiara; The Central Market, Honiara; Fatboys Resort Opposite page: Aerial shot of Tavanipupu Opening image: Fatboys is on Mbabanga Island, off Ghizo GORGEOUS GIZO pad featuring an open verandah and incredible views out over the ocean. Awake to a gorgeous sunrise and the waves gently The Solomon Islands stretch some 1800 kilometres across nine crashing ashore.
    [Show full text]
  • Pacific Island History Poster Profiles
    Pacific Island History Poster Profiles A Note for Teachers Acknowledgements Index of Profiles This Profiles are subject to copyright. Photocopying and general reproduction for teaching purposes is permitted. Reproduction of this material in part or whole for commercial purposes is forbidden unless written consent has been obtained from Queensland University of Technology. Requests can be made through the acknowldgements section of this pdf file. A Note for Teachers This series of National History Posters has been designed for individual and group Classroom use and Library display in secondary schools. The main aim is to promote in children an interest in their national history. By comparing their nation's history with what is presented on other Posters, students will appreciate the similarities and differences between their own history and that of their Pacific Island neighbours. The student activities are designed to stimulate comparison and further inquiry into aspects of their own and other's past. The National History Posters will serve a further purpose when used as a permanent display in a designated “History” classroom, public space or foyer in the school or for special Parent- Teacher nights, History Days and Education Days. The National History Posters do not offer a complete survey of each nation's history. They are only a profile. They are a short-cut to key people, key events and the broad sweep of history from original settlement to the present. There are many gaps. The posters therefore serve as a stimulus for students to add, delete, correct and argue about what should or should not be included in their Nation's History Profile.
    [Show full text]
  • Australia's Coastwatchers
    Extracts from…. The VMARS News Sheet Issue Australia’s Coastwatchers Last year, VMARS Member Ray Robinson VK2NO wrote about Island, to the east of New Guinea, and into the chain of about the centenary of the Amalgamated Wireless Australasia AWA one thousand Solomon Islands, a decision that proved crucial Company. Ray’s interesting article reminded me that AWA was during the later battles fought by US forces to dislodge the manufacturer that produced equipment used by the wireless Japanese occupying troops. Aware that the name reporting stations run by the Royal Australian Navy to monitor ‘Coastwatcher’ was a clear indication of the organisation’s and report Japanese military movements in the Pacific Islands primary purpose, one of Feldt’s earliest decisions was to have during WWII. The story of the Australian Coastwatchers has the name removed from official documents and for the always fascinated me since I first became aware of their organisation to be known henceforth only by the codename existence after seeing the film “Father Goose” in the 1960s, in ‘Ferdinand’. Ferdinand was a popular children’s character which Cary Grant played the part of a whisky swilling and noted for sitting quietly under trees and smelling the flowers, reluctant Coastwatcher stranded on a remote Pacific Island, with which Feldt thought was an appropriate simile for the Trevor Howard playing his Royal Australian Navy wireless contact activities his Coastwatchers would undertake. in Port Moresby, New Guinea. The supply, installation of and maintenance contract for A wireless telegraphist operator, probably Sergeant equipment for the newly enlarged ‘Ferdinand’ intelligence (Sgt) William 'Billy' Bennett, MM, British Solomon gathering organisation was given to the part-nationalised Islands Protectorate Defence Force (BSIPDF), AWA Company, which developed a new portable wireless station, designated the Teleradio1, for the project.
    [Show full text]
  • The Allied Intelligence Bureau
    APPENDIX 4 THE ALLIED INTELLIGENCE BUREAU Throughout the last three volumes of this series glimpses have bee n given of the Intelligence and guerilla operations of the various organisa- tions that were directed by the Allied Intelligence Bureau . The story of these groups is complex and their activities were diverse and so widesprea d that some of them are on only the margins of Australian military history . They involved British, Australian, American, Dutch and Asian personnel , and officers and men of at least ten individual services . At one time o r another A.I.B. controlled or coordinated eight separate organisations. The initial effort to establish a field Intelligence organisation in what eventually became the South-West Pacific Area was made by the Aus- tralian Navy which, when Japan attacked, had a network of coastwatche r stations throughout the New Guinea territories . These were manned by people living in the Australian islands and the British Sololnons . The development and the work of the coastwatchers is described in some detai l in the naval series of this history and in The Coast Watchers (1946) by Commander Feldt, who directed their operations. The expulsion of Allied forces from Malaya, the Indies and the Philip- pines, and also the necessity of establishing Intelligence agencies withi n the area that the enemy had conquered brought to Australia a numbe r of Allied Intelligence staffs and also many individuals with intimate know - ledge of parts of the territories the Japanese now occupied . At the summit were, initially, the Directors of Intelligence of the thre e Australian Services .
    [Show full text]
  • WIRELESS and EMPIRE AMBITION Wireless Telegraphy/Telephony And
    WIRELESS AND EMPIRE AMBITION Wireless telegraphy/telephony and radio broadcasting in the British Solomon Islands Protectorate, South-West Pacific (1914-1947): political, social and developmental perspectives Martin Lindsay Hadlow Master of Arts in Mass Communications, University of Leicester, 2003 Honorary Doctorate, Kazakh State National University (named after Al-Farabi), 1997 A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at The University of Queensland in 2016 School of Communication and Arts Abstract This thesis explores the establishment of wireless technology (telegraphy, telephony and broadcasting) in the British Solomon Islands Protectorate (BSIP), South-West Pacific and analyses its application as a political, social and cultural tool during the colonial years spanning the first half of the 20th century. While wireless seemed a ready-made technology for the Pacific, given its capability as a medium to transmit and receive signals instantly across vast expanses of ocean, the colonial civil servants of Britain’s Fiji-based regional headquarters, the Western Pacific High Commission (WPHC) in Suva, were slow to understand its strategic value. Conservative attitudes to governance, combined with a confidence born of Imperial rule, not to mention bureaucratic inertia and an almost complete lack of understanding of the new medium by a reluctant administration, aligned to cause obfuscation, delay and frustration. In the British Solomon Islands Protectorate, one of the most geographically remote ‘fragments of Empire’, pressures from the commercial sector (primarily planters and traders), the religious community (mission stations in remote locations), keen amateur experimenters (expatriate businessmen), wireless sales companies (Marconi and AWA Ltd.), not to mention the declaration of World War I itself, all intervened to bring about change to the stultified regulatory environment then pertaining and to ensure the introduction of wireless technology in its multitude of iterations.
    [Show full text]
  • A Short History of Army Intelligence
    A Short History of Army Intelligence by Michael E. Bigelow, Command Historian, U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command Introduction On July 1, 2012, the Military Intelligence (MI) Branch turned fi fty years old. When it was established in 1962, it was the Army’s fi rst new branch since the Transportation Corps had been formed twenty years earlier. Today, it remains one of the youngest of the Army’s fi fteen basic branches (only Aviation and Special Forces are newer). Yet, while the MI Branch is a relatively recent addition, intelligence operations and functions in the Army stretch back to the Revolutionary War. This article will trace the development of Army Intelligence since the 18th century. This evolution was marked by a slow, but steady progress in establishing itself as a permanent and essential component of the Army and its operations. Army Intelligence in the Revolutionary War In July 1775, GEN George Washington assumed command of the newly established Continental Army near Boston, Massachusetts. Over the next eight years, he dem- onstrated a keen understanding of the importance of MI. Facing British forces that usually outmatched and often outnumbered his own, Washington needed good intelligence to exploit any weaknesses of his adversary while masking those of his own army. With intelligence so imperative to his army’s success, Washington acted as his own chief of intelligence and personally scrutinized the information that came into his headquarters. To gather information about the enemy, the American com- mander depended on the traditional intelligence sources avail- able in the 18th century: scouts and spies.
    [Show full text]
  • Your Guide to Doing Business in the Solom
    your guide to doing business in the Solomons As theAs theleading leading ICT company ICT company in the South in the Pacific, South Pacific, DaltronDaltron stands stands apart apartin terms in ofterms providing of providing the the completecomplete IT solution. IT solution. Our key Products and Services include: Our key Products and Services include: RETAIL SHOWROOM n ComputersRETAIL SHOWROOM (HP/Acer) n Laptopsn Computers (HP/Acer) (HP/Acer) n Printersn Laptops (HP/Epson) (HP/Acer) n Consumablesn Printers (HP/Epson)(Paper, Toner, Ink Cartridges) n SERVER Consumables AND STORAGE (Paper,SOLUTIONS Toner, Ink Cartridges) n Pre & Post Sales Support n LargeSERVER product AND range STORAGE for all size SOLUTIONS business n Scalablen Pre solutions& Post Sales to grow Support with your business n Large product range for all size business INTERNETn Scalable solutions to grow with your business n Dial - up n ADSLINTERNET Broadband n Wireless n n Domain Dial Hosting - up n n Web ADSLMail Broadband n Airspotn Wireless n Wirelessn Domain Broadband Hosting Internet n Web Mail NETWORKING Investment in the right technology and n Airspot n Cabling n n Wireless Wireless Local &Broadband Private Area Internet Networks solutions can make a big difference n Local & Wide Area Networks (LAN)/(WAN) Investment in the right technology and NETWORKING TRAININGn Cabling Whether it be at home, school or business, investment in the right n Worldn Wireless Class Facility Local & Private Area Networks n On-line and classroom based training options solutions can make a big difference n Local & Wide Area Networks (LAN)/(WAN) technology solution can make a big difference to your long term success.
    [Show full text]
  • COASTWATCHERS: NO MORE SMELLING FLOWERS by Ken Wright
    COASTWATCHERS: NO MORE SMELLING FLOWERS By Ken Wright People over impressed by spies and espionage are fond of quoting the observation attributed to the Napoleon Bonaparte when he estimated that a spy in the right place was worth twenty thousand troops. Perhaps he didn’t pay his spies enough as he won the Battle of Wagram then lost the battle of Waterloo, lost his attempt to take Moscow, lost his position as Emperor of France and was finally exiled to the island of Elba. However, his observation about the worth of spies was certainly correct when applied to the Coastwatching organisation in the Pacific during World War II. The original Australian model began in 1919 when selected personnel in coastal areas were organised on a voluntary basis to report in time of war any unusual or suspicious events along the Australian coastline. The concept was quickly extended to include Australian New Guinea as well as Papua and the Solomon Islands. In 1939 when World War II commenced, approximately 800 Coastwatchers came under the control of the Royal Australian Navy Intelligence Division. Lieutenant Commander Eric Feldt had operational control of the Coastwatchers in the north-eastern area of defence which encompassed Australian Mandated New Guinea, Papua, the Solomon Islands and Australia. Eric Feldt was previously a navy man but resigned to work for the Australian government in New Guinea. He grew to know and understand the island people, plantation managers and assorted government officials and they in turn came to know and trust him. Because of their trust in Feldt, when the war with Japan began many civilians opted to stay in New Guinea rather than be evacuated as the Japanese war machine advanced through the Pacific.
    [Show full text]
  • What Can Australia Do to Prevent Human Rights Abuses in West Papua?
    Volume 19 | Issue 10 | Number 2 | Article ID 5601 | May 15, 2021 The Asia-Pacific Journal | Japan Focus What Can Australia Do To Prevent Human Rights Abuses in West Papua? Camellia Webb-Gannon, Michael Westaway, Jaime Swift, Nathan Wright, Richard Adams Introduction Abstract: West Papua, Australia’s near In August 2019, a series of demonstrations of northern neighbour, has for nearly six decades unprecedented size broke out across the large 1 experienced widespread human rights abuses contested territory of West Papua. Initially by the Indonesian state and military. In this protesting against racial violence and attacks article we argue that Australia has theon West Papuan university students in Java, responsibility and the expertise to do more to Indonesia (Barker September 2019a), the demonstrations escalated across West Papua in ensure that West Papuans’ human rights are the wake of the global resurgence of the Black being upheld. First, in a situation as serious as Lives Matter movement following the 2020 that of West Papua, Australia, as a member of racist killing of George Floyd in the USA by the United Nations, we contend, has a political white police officers (Yaung 2020). The ongoing duty to intervene under the United Nation’s protests brought attention to similar social ‘responsibility to protect’ doctrine. Second, we injustices suffered by Indigenous Papuans at put forward that Australia also has a historic the hands of Indonesian security forces in West and moral obligation to the territory: West Papua. Over 50 people have now been killed by Papuans provided vital assistance to Australian Indonesian security forces and Jihadi inspired troops in 1944 during World War 2.
    [Show full text]