Some Papua New Guinean Experiences in World War II Neville K Robinson
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Villagers at war: some Papua New Guinean experiences in World War II Neville K Robinson ::::x --- ====-- Villagers at war 141° 144° 147° 150° 153° 156° PACIFIC OCEAN � Manus Is Lorengau c;:::::::? a ADMIRALTY ISLANDS B I \ M .4 R C K \ F A Karkar Is O 0 Alexishafen I·-· • Madang I"'\. ·- V I Bogadjim. I - Mt Hagen · . .....,.,. ... · ,·,Chimt5u i -!'• .... ii Gasmata I I '., i \ ()f_().\.10.\ .\ F .4 I i I ·� T;obriand Is 0 Goodenough Is <i:::JWoodlark Is PORT Fergusson Is ·- (JU Wedau � Normanby Is � Misima Is CORA!_ \ /: .4 � �Rossel Is 50 0 50 100 150 200 miles Tagula Is� V/R Map 1 Papua New Guinea Pacific Research Monograph Number Two Villagers at war: some Papua New Guinean experiences in World War II Neville K Robinson Series editor E.K. Fisk The Australian National University Canberra 1981 ©Neville K. Robinson 1981 First Published 1979 Reprinted with some revision 1981 This work is copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission. Inquiries may be made to the publisher. National Library of Australia Cataloguing in publications entry Robinson, Neville K. Villagers at war. (Pacific research monograph; no. 2 ISSN 0155-9060) Bibliography. ISBN o 909150 35 4 1. World War, 1939-45 - Campaigns - New Guinea. 2. Villages - Papua New Guinea. 3. Papua New Guinea - Social life and customs. I. Title. (Series) 940.5426 Printed and manufactured in Australia by The Australian National University Cover Illustration from Cook, James. Captain Cook's Voyages around the World, printed for Millar, Law and Cater, Vol. 4, London, 1790 Neville Keith Robinson was born during World War II in Georgetown, Guyana. He was educated at Queen's College, the University College of West Indies, and the Universities of London and Papua New Guinea. After seven years of secondary school teaching in Buyana, he moved to Papua New Guinea. He worked at the Educational Materials Centre at the University of Papua New Guinea and was later appointed to the lecturing staff of Port Moresby Teachers College. He was senior lecturer in Social Studies and is at present Deputy Principal. Summary Papua New Guinea was a theatre of warfare between the armed forces of the Allies and Japan from 4 January 1942 to 6 Septemb er 1945 . Three places - the Toaripi area, Hanuabada and Butibam - were studied in order to assess the impact of the war on the lives of Papuans and New Guineans . The outline for this book is based on do cumentary sources , especially ANGAU patrol reports and the War Diary; it is fleshed out by oral evidence obtained during in terviews with groups and individuals who took part in the war . The work of the Au stralian New Guinea Administrative Unit (ANGAU) which governed the Allied-occupied parts of Papua New Guinea during the war , its relations with the civilian populat ion and its effect on their lives are also studied. The war enabled many Papuans and New Guineans to gain self-confidence , to see virtue in co-operation within ethnic groups and to set 'developmental ' goals which could be attained by group effort . v Contents Page Acknowledgements xi xiii Pref ace Ab b reviations xv ii Chapter 1 World War II in Papua New Guinea 1 Chapter 2 ANGAU in Papua : recruitment and treatment of labour and the adminis tration of villages , 1942-1945 12 Chapter 3 The Toaripi villages in the war 43 Chapter 4 Hanuabada in the war 96 Chapter 5 Butibam in the war 128 Chapter 6 Conclusions 165 Appendices la Casualties, honours and awards to Papuans and New Guineans in service with ANGAU 189 lb ANGAU - administration and organisat ion , 17 May 1942 191 le Growth of ANGAU personnel 193 2a Towope Tovatoa 194 2b Carriers ' songs 194 3a Parua Tau's account of his evacuat ion 196 3b List of married couples 197 3c Hanuabadans who joined the Papuan Infantry Battalion 197 3d Hanuabadans who became Nat ive Medical Orderlies 198 3e Hanuabadans who worked as clerks during World War II 198 vii viii Ap pendices 3f Hanuabadans who died in World War II 198 3g A selection of songs made during the 198 war 198 3h Daera Ganiga 's experience in the Papuan Infantry Battalion 201 4a Pidgin address by WO N.M. Bird 203 5a Local informants on the Toaripi area 204 5b Local in fo rmants on Hanuab ada village 205 5c Local informants on Butibam village 206 5d List of expatriate informants 207 5e List of correspondents 208 References 219 Tables 1 Ftmctions and organisat ion HQ ANGAU , 10 Jtme 1943 14 2 Re cruitment of labour by ANGAU 23 3 Village populations, March 1943 55 4 Census of Toaripi villages 94 Maps 1 Papua New Guinea Frontispiece 2 The Kokoda Track 4 3 Gulf of Papua showing Lakekamu River and Toaripi villages 44 4 Wau-Bulldog Road 61 5 The Papuan coast from Vabukori to Ala 'ala 97 6 The Huon Gulf showing Lae and the coastal villages and the routes of withdrawal of the 5lst Japanese Divis ion across the Huon Peninsula 129 7 Villages in the Lae area 129 ix Plates 1 Villagers at the. ANGAU trade store - Yule Island Australian War Memorial negative (AWM neg.) no.100458 211 2 General Morris inspecting the RPC 211 AWM neg. no.?1?58 3 Officers of ANGAU HQ at the 1944 Conference 212 AWM neg. no.?0208 4 Supplies travelling by dug-out canoe along the Lakekamu AWM neg. no. 127953 212 5 Labourers on board a barge of lst Au stralian Wa ter Transport Group AWM neg. no.53910 213 6 Barges tied up at Grimm Point 213 AWM neg. no.56560 7 Carrier on the Bulldog Track at Ecclestone's Gap AWM neg. no.54746 214 8 Labourers clearing sand on the Bulldog Road 215 AWM neg. no.53915 9 The Steele Falls Section of the Bulldog-Wau Road AWM neg. no.?4576 215 10 Groyne built at Mirivase by Royal Australian Engineers AWM neg. no.56564 216 11 Production of 'Guinea Gold' by hand 216 AWM neg. no.152430 12 Ruins of Hanuabada after the 1943 fire 217 AWM neg. no.152434 13 Temporary shelters erected at Hanuabada after 217 the fire AWM neg. no.152437 14 Butibam village, November 1944 218 AWM neg. no.77142 15 Staff NCOs of the American Army at Lae 218 AWM neg. no.94261 16 An ANGAU magistrate holding court in Butibam 219 AWM neg. no.?7122 17 Iosi , the village teacher at But ibam 219 AWM neg. no.77114 Acknowledgments I wish to thank the following people for assistance in my collection of oral ma terial : Kevau Raho , Bart Philemon , Martin Buluna , Pokang Kisin g, Rev . H.A. Brown , Rev. P. Chatterton and the numerous villagers of Hanuabada , Butibam and the Toaripi coast. Kevin Green and Moike Helai of the PNG Archives , Colin Freeman and Nancy Lutton of the New Guinea Collection and G. McKeown of the Aus tralian War Memorial were mo st helpful in my research for documents . Peter Ryan , Lynn Clark , J.K. McCarthy , P.G . Baskett and D.M. Fenbury connnen ted readily and critically on my drafts. I am grateful to the following translators : Susuve Hahari, Laho Karakuru, Sala Tirea, Rex Marere , Sarufa Oakari, Loisi Toivita, Siaou Meposou , Stephen Ah i, Jack Nakua , Michael Geali, Noah Tasuf, Tetac Gagi and Kevau Raho . I thank the Director of the Australian War Memorial , Canberra, for kind permission to reproduce photographs from their extensive collection on the war in New Guinea. Map 2 is reproduced from D. McCarthy, South-west Pacific Area - First Year and maps 4 and 6 adapted from this publication an d from D. Dexter, The New Guinea Offensives . I also thank Ian Willis for permission to adapt map 7 from Lae: Village and Ci ty . Marlous Ploeg, Vagi Vagi and E.H. Elwynnd of the Geography Department , Un iversity of Papua New Guinea , drew most of the maps . The staff of the History Department at the Un iversity of Papua New Guinea and fellow-students at the Un iversity of Papua New Guinea have helped me greatly through discuss ions and connnent. Professor Ernest Roe and Mrs Roe provided valuable support to me at the start when I was researching full-time . I am particularly grateful to Profes sor Ken Inglis and Hank Nelson who have at different stages encouraged me and supervised my work . The greatest debt I owe is to Nigel Oram for the patient way in which he has helped me to persist in this endeavour and for his in cis ive and informative connnent . Neville K. Robinson . xi Preface In 'War, race and loyalty in New Guinea 1939-45', a paper delivered at the Second Waigani Seminar (1968) , Professor K.S. Inglis examined the concept of the Fuzzy Wuzzy Angel in Papua New Guinea during World War II . He quoted from the writings of European ob servers of the war , then asked 'What did native people think of all these events? ' and also stated 'Historians so far have not written much about native response to the war. ' (Inglis, 1969.) It is my purpose to look principally at their side of the war in Papua New Guinea, by attempting to record the war-time experiences of three discrete groups of local people on the mainland of Papua New Guinea. First, I set out to gather oral in formation from local people about their experiences during the war.