The National Museum of the

(Admiral Nimitz Museum)

Center for Pacific War Studies Fredericksburg, Texas

An Interview With

Jimmy Bennett Native Scout rd43 InfantryDivision 8” Combat Engineers Munda, New Georgia, interviewivith Jnm; Bennett

Richard Misenhimer 1th Mv name is Rwlinrdfl’wnhimer Tnd:n iS :LtW.iSt 1 ‘tW” T’ni çniru iii:: fr jjypny Bcq’iieiiin lii’: honie in ‘v!un:l”Ncw (leoria SolomonT’landc ‘us mailingactdrrs•;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,!’” PacificWars Center 11wPacifir War c,ttcl:ecPtr the pre’wrv:ition oflucioncal mflwmaiioiirrlatrd to WorldWar U

Jimniv Twant 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 Twar brought up in •iib mcsion 1;chcio!n ttire. Th:t wrs during tir peace time Thciithe war timeI was r snun &so viithrw fderc here. fted Bisili Both of us scout ;:ndkink after old people. Mr. Misenhimer When didyou 9nish school here’ Mt BennetL

Schoo!.we could wa’kout rniyr!meit w;:sii thepeacetime.AndTcf1 scioo wS’nI was about ten years old. r ;t.o’leduc:itec!elf’ Mr. Misenhimer That did votido after that’ Mr. Bennett

I went to work with to work with 911!Phills at (iro in the &ilp.&e &&g!rship wor!d,v on the wharikthere collect:ng copra and buying cocke shets. Mr. Misenkliner ‘Wtiatdid nafl’ntsdo”

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 of their 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 everythingthat 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 familiesout 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 . 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 familyin 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 of the Lagoon and stay right there, my familywere 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 Kennedygave us a strong warningnot to go anywherenearthe laps, theyare the enemy.Any one that go might get (lie belt. Anyone make a mistake during the war, he put them on a truck andbelt tiledaylightsout oflhcm. So we were seared.We neverdidgo ner the laps. But this friendof minegot caught once, he was a scout, the laps caught him somewhereup here,but he knows his way,,he took ofl’andthe laps didn’tever findhimagain. Mr. Misenh(mer What did the Japanesedo whentheycame, try to buildan) air-ports? Mr. Bennett Theydon’t start rightaway.Theyareclearingthebottom, the surface lefl all the cocoflut trees standing. for the American planes don’t reconnive they are budiig an airport.Theydestrnyed everything,IdIlall the plants.eat allour pigs. and destroyour gardens.We were 1dto to 1.’c.’p away from(11cm. ‘14.,II. a*tatinnnt*S2 What did you all!ia”eto eat thai? flfl—aalflan ,td_

We have some friendsand relatives,everywhete“e md COVC4itIt and seeds.?!:t saved us a lot, and if we doii’thave anythhig to cat in the garden.!ikeeSVCgCtEh and 9ota!oecwe md o!d 1 and (hathelpsus a lot. Most of the epeop are dyng, thereis no featment Mr. Misenhbier t Now about how manypeople fromhere went down thor” Mr. Bennett Alet ofus. Lyeor six-hundredofus fromtheMundaarea.Most of theother sIde to ‘Jo ta Vcnc Tagoon. Thcat’s“here they had t!’& pprentsrd the-’e1peop were t’ere. Mr. Misenhime’ VScmdd il-c Aaiwreansco:m? :vtt.5:,,. , sSCflBCna The 4,’icrcan rc inJuly 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 ,,:ndthen one day we saw V’ei-destroyers ad u arsNps pt

4 everythingandtheylandedat Rendova. So we knewthat the Americanswe’rethere,so only ScoutsandCarrierscome to meetthemat MburukoPort andhelpshowthemthe way.This friend,Manuel.was the firstone to be with the M43 Engr. I stayedbehindto look aftermy parents.Mostofthekidsweresmallerandmymotherwasveryold,andabouta weeklaterthis man,Esau Hide. askedmetojoin withhimat Janiina.Westayedtherewiththe43” Infantry andwebothwerevorkingwiththe I th18 Engr.Ofthe43”Division,3”’Platoon.Becauseboth meandhimknowthisplacebecausewewerebornhere,andknow‘itch aytobuildtheroads behindthe infantry,.We showtkein whatwayto go. whichwaynot to go, sharp;here.hills there,just behindtheinfantry.Whentheywereheldup, westoppedtoo.Most of;our friends wereshot,killed.Wegot shota lotsoftimes.Wecouldhearthebulletsgoingchhcliiichit.We wouldlayflaton theground.Ourfirstscrapwasat Ilangana.WemovedfromJunigaandmade a nightlandingat Ilangana.We movedfrom there to the east end of Munda Airfield.We campedthere‘til‘varis overat Munda. Mr. Miscnhimer Didyouactuallyleadsomeof thetroopsin to thefighting? Mr. Bennctt Yes. ‘ Mr. MiseaMmer Didyoueverdo anyshootingyourself? Mr. Bennett Ohyes,yes.Wewec bothe.rmed.‘Yehadguns,rifles,beltsandhandgreiiadcs.Welieda fbi! uniform.Whenwewerenearthefrontandweweretoldnot tomove,thenwestartedshooting closeto thefront,but verycareib!becausesomeof theAmericansoldierswereat thefro9t. Mr. Misenhimcr Wereyoueveralmostcapturedby theJapanese? Mr. Bennett Most of them we saw were dead ones. We would shoot most of the live ones. They had prisonersup atMundaPoint.andmostof then “ere Filipinolaborers,youknow,buildingthe AirfleldatMunda.Therewasnearlya thousandofthem,buttheyalldied,starvingandJapanese treat themin a bad way.Americanbombingdayalter daykilledmostfo them.Filipinosand Malaitansandallthoselaborersfromthecountry.JapanesebroughtthemheretoMundatohelp

5 buildthe airfield. Mr. Misenhhner Did you see manyfightsbetweenairp!anes? Mr. Bennett Oh,plentyof fightingaroundhere,bombs.This man,Esau Hide, shotat theplaneoncehere. TheybombRendova,oneof theplanesstartsstraflng,machine-gunni’igfromtheotherend.We wereinthebushhereandEsau Hide startedshooting“Bang.bang,bang,bang.”TheAmericans go “good,Esau Hide. get himdown.”Me and the otherswere flaton the floor.Lot of planes, abut the Sapsnot too mL’chbombinghere at MLlnda.TheybombRendo’a morebecauseof the landingplaceover there, the Americans.That’s wherewe getall our supplies,fromRendova andbombingVellaLaVella.Sometimesan air raidhere. The SapswerebombingfromVeRa LaVdlla. Mr. Misenhhncr I understoodthe Americanshad theirartilleryon Rendovaand fire over here. Mr. Bennett Yes,butI thinkit wastoo farfromMunda.Thosebigguns. 105and 155M& theymovethen toanotherislandcloser.!!waspacked‘itb gunshere.Youcouldheaithebullets,theshellsjust overhead, swish,swish,dayandnightrightthrough,andalsothe Paericar pkmes,whenever theArnericas wouldholdup the Saps.Thentheartillerywouldcone and whenevertheJap movedup theia(b”!rywouldstar!holdingthem Lip. Mr. Misenhimer Now. didyoueverworkwithKennedy,the Coastwatcher? Mr. Bennett Not withhim,mybrotherwaswithhim,andI wasa scouthereon Munda. Mr. Misenhimer Your brothers’rnvncwasBilly? Mr. Bennett Yes,my brotherBf!!ywasa Sergeant.We workedwithDJckHortor’.He “v.st’phere. Mr. Misenhimer He wasan AustralianCoastwatcher? Mr. Bennett

6 He was here on the islands before the war, a district officer. Mr. Misenhimer What are some of the things you did with him? Mr. Bennett We would scout for him and give informationto him.He would sent it to Kennedy and Kennedy would sent it on to Guadalcanal. Even ifwe got Jap prisoners here, most of the time some one would cut their neck off and throw them away or capture them and give them to the Coas twatchers. The Coastwatchers would contact highercommandandPBYs would come pickthem up. Also American pilots when they were shot down. Mr. Misenhimer Did you rescue any pilots yourself? Mr. Bennett Oh, sure. Andre, one of the pelots shot down outside Rovana Lagoon, we rescue him.Took him down to Coastwatcher and the next day we walked him overland, to where some people were waiting for him and they took him to Seghe Point where a PBY picked him up. Mr. Misenhimer Did you all move him at night or in the day time? Mr. Bennett Mostly night time, Not safe in day time. American planes, one they see anything floating, they shoot at it . Machine gun it. The Japanese, when they see us, the only thing they could do is cut the necks off We were so frightened of the American planes, not too many Jap planes around here. Mr. Misenhimer Was there any way you could signal to the American planes that you were friendly? Mr. Bennett The Coastwatchers let the Americans know that scouts were moving in the area, so plane has to fly very low and se what they were. Mr. Misenhimer What were sosome other things you remember that happened at that time? Mr. Bennett

st The first timne I was with the I Marines here, that was Major Boyd. He was the first marine

7 that landed in Munda up in the hills here. He was a Marine Raider, Captain Clay Boyd. I was with him and we had to walk across the Kinba Kinba Ri\Ier, that’s where the Coastwatchers were, and there was seven of them, the other four went across to Rendova. Horton was at Rendova. From where he was staying it was very easy to see the front of Munda and all the movement at the airfield.The four went across to Rendova and three of them ere left with me. They took pictures of this and names of the islands. We go as far as Munda Bar, and the last thing they ask me was where was the best place for the Americans to land. The marines was talking about coming through Munda Bar, and I said, “No that is not safe, all the coast of Munda, Munda Pouint, all the big guns are facing Munda Bar. You better come around the other way.”So that’s what they did. Landed at Rendova and come through Sasavele Entrance and made a landing. The Japanese didn’t know the Americans were there and the Americans, and this friend of mine and me, joined the operating engineers down halfway to Munda , then we just met the Japanese build up coming from.Munda. and that is when the shooting started at the Barike River. ivil • V4I3L 111lLII1 £ What are some other things that you remember from there? 1/1,. 1VL1 • fl, -t1E IL When the airport at Munda was captured, they come and find if anyone know Bon’ Island. where to land. The first two barges were sunk because there was stillguns there. So they come to look for who know Bong and the right place to land. so they pick one of us, and this man, Bisili said, “You better go”.So I say.”All right.” We will take four or five barges at Kaanga Island and landed straight in a mangrove. No Japs were there, and we tried to fifld at proper place for a barge to go i, The barge just put the ramp down here on the mangrove The soldiers run on to the ramp and started to work cutting them down, another one and another one. We were lucky not to he met by the Japanese where we landed there. We stayed there for a cmvand they sent in the equipment. hull dozers and trucks and everything. We start hui!dng a road

across a swamp. there was a swamp there. and before we go across the swampwe met the Japs, flghting and shooting at us. Some of the boys were hit and the medics came very auck. A

bulldozer drver got shot ofiThbulldozer there. a hgbloke. tobacco chewer. He jumned off the dozer and left it running and it ran into the mangrove, and th Japs shot straight through the crankcase and it stopped there. Some of the boys were wounded too, and fri there we moved

0 U to the point, Vanga Point, and captured those two big guns. They were facing Munda Bar, 144mm and we were there for five days, and at night time we were staying. There was a bay there, the Japs on the other end and we were on the other side. Night time the Japs were firing at us, but the Captain told us not to fire anything, but you can hear the barges running back and forth until day light. The Captain said they are running away now, so it was true. In the morning we put patrol to the other end and we find nobody left there, just a few dead Japanese and equipment, but allJaps had moved from Vanga to and then to VellaLaVella and on .When five days were over, we came back to out camp, then they picked me again to guide a patrol across from Munda to a nearby island, so I lead them and we stay there for two nights, but all the Japs had already moved out except a few of them stuck to their guns. Mr. Misenhimer This patrol, were they Marines or Army? Mr. Bennett Marines on the northern side and Army on this side. American Marines and Army, they are not friends here. Every time the Army blokes in our camp saw the Marines walking past, the Army would holler at them, “Hey.” The Marines would holler, “The Army isuseless.” The Army said, “Who captured Munda Airport?” The Armycaptured the Munda airport, not the Marines. After two days on patrol we came back by barge, two barges took us back to Munda. When we came past between North Georgia and Kolombangara through Kula Gulf the Japanese on Kolombangara were firingat us. They had some big guns there, but they didn’t do any damage. We came straight back here. We stayed here until the rd43 moved to Vona Vona, and they asked if 1can go with them, and 1 said, “Yes.” Major Clemons, the English Commander, said, “You can’t go, you must come back home to your folks at home there.” So 1 went back there and stayed for a few days. They choose me to go to and to bring back two wooden ships built for the Solomon Island Government. Back to Solomon Island with those two ships, not myself;,but some other friend. After the war I was posted a Malaita for five years. 1 looked around and found a ship coming back to the west, and I was put ashore and met somebody from the plantation that had belonged to Lever Brothers before, so I went to work at this plantation on Kolombangara, so I was there for fourteen years, plenty of hard work cutting copra, heavy work that was. After fourteen years, 1got tired and getting old, so 1decided to go

9 back home. So I came back straight here to Munda and stayed here, and I apply for the airfield to look after, so I won the contract, and I was working at the airfield here. I had a tractor, slasher and a few boys helping me. My son too, and I stay there ‘til now. I still have the right to Munda Airport. I still have the contract there. Mr. Misenhimer So you are eighty years old now. Mr. Bennett I’m eighty years old, last May. Mr. Misenhimer Now back during the war, what were some of the things your brother, Bill did? Mr. Bennett Well, me and a friend of mine, Joe Martin, we take one of the ships that belong to the mission to Choiseul, pick up few Chinese. Choiseul was full of Chinese from Munda and Gizo and we pick them up and drop on the other side of Isabel, and from Isabel we met Geoffrey Cooper, he was a Coastwatcher, and we stayed with him, me and Joe Martin. GeoftIey Cooper had four or five prisoners, and they were working helping the Japs. They burned up a ship my brother was aboard the ship and the Japs burned that one up, so Coastwatchers got these fouffellas. Isabel people, and me and Joe Martin, took them across to Seghe at night. Our ship was smaller and we ran back and forth and the weather was bad. They don’t see us, so lucky we got across from Isabel to Seghe Point. We let these Prisoners off and Kennedy took them over and put them in prison and I came back here. I stayed here until the Americans landed. Mr. Misenhimer I understand that Bill had his own army, did he? Mr. Bennett Yes, Billywas a Sergeant by now. They don’t have their own equipment. Captured Japanese ships, guns, ammunition, about fifty or sixty of them, defense force at Seghe. Killed a lot of Japs, sunk a few of the barges they came from Isabel trying to get to Munda. When they come through the Marova Lagoon the scouts send a message to Kennedy, Kennedy get all the defenses ready and met them and finishedthem allup. Sank the barge andgot rid of allthe dead laps, so no body know where this happened. The laps sent out patrols, but the don’t come back and they don’t know what happened to them, but Kennedy knew who this is, so they captured

10 every thing, keep them down, all the dead Japs were buried, or tied them up ans sunk them in the sea. Mr. Misenhimer Now all the dead Japanese here, what did you do with them? Mr. Bennett No body buried them, fliesall over them and they were just on the ground. Just left them there. It was very hard to try to bury them because Americans had to keep moving. Didn’t have time to bury them. Dead Japs all over the place. Americans bull-dozed a lot of them into the sea, or dig a big hole and dump them in it. The American dead were buried in the cemetery on the hill. Plenty of them there. It’s a right nice place there up on the hill. Dug them up after the war and took them home. Mr. Misenhimer When the Americans took over here and had the airport, did you work for them then? Mr. Bennett

Surely, thousands of local laborers come from far West and around New Georgia here, did all the work, made it easy for the Americans. Mr. Misenhimer Did the Americans pay the laborers? Mr. Bennett The British Government paid them, twelve dollars a month. Mr. Misenhimer Anything else you recall? Mr. Bennett The dead Japs, all of them had gold teeth, so we just opened their mouth, banged on them and got the teeth, gold ones. We lost them all, I don;t know where I put mine, I had five of them. The Americans would say “Why are you taking the gold teeth of these yellow bastards?” One night the Japanese captured the American Command Post. We were held up on the river there, we stayed there all night, we couldn’t go back to the Command Post. In the morning we tried to go, but we can’t, the Japs are fullup in the road, and one of our scouts, a Malaitan man, was shot dead at the time too. Now we turned back and stayed near the river, thousands of us, local laborers and Americans.Next morning a Fijianscout, we were facing a hill,a road comes down

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Transcribed

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