Chapter 8 Blue Duck; Escape from Wewak; The Chit; Road to Salami; Dogs & Air Raids

ESCAPE FROM WEWAK

SHOT down on May 20, 1944, over Wewak, Flying-Officer R. A. Graetz, of South Australia, wireless air gunner in a R.A.A.F. Beaufort, wandered practically foodless and unidentified among Japanese camps for eight days. Cool resourcefulness and good luck enabled him to survive. On the eighth day he was rescued by an American naval patrol craft after a series of amazing adventures which have seldom been equalled in fiction, much less in fact. This diary narrative of his escape and evasion of capture was included in the official report made to R.A.A.F. intelligence officers.

After bombing and strafing a village along the coast of the Ninahau River a strafing run was made on buildings at But Mission. just as the run was completed the port motor of the Beaufort caught afire, doubtless from unseen ground fire. The pilot turned the aeroplane towards the sea to "ditch" well out, but the cockpit filled with smoke making further control impossible. The aeroplane was "ditched" twenty yards offshore from But Plantation.

The dinghy was released and the crew climbed aboard on the seaward side of the aeroplane. They began to paddle the dinghy seaward but as soon as it drew away from the protection of the Beaufort, which was lying in the surf, the Nips opened up with several machine guns from the rising ground behind But Mission. The first burst of about three seconds was very accurate, the navigator, Flying-Officer Anderson, being killed outright.

The second burst of fire holed the dinghy, which started to fill with water. The remaining three men jumped and started to swim alongside the dinghy, towing it seaward, when the third burst of fire collapsed the dinghy completely, killed the pilot, Flying Officer McLaren, and wounded Flying-Officer Graetz, who was hit by a probable .30 calibre bullet which carried away the lobe of his right ear, causing a heavy loss of blood.

Graetz then swam westward, away from the fire. He did not have a jungle kit and wore flying boots, which were soon lost in the water. Flight-Sergeant Moloney, the other wireless air gunner, was last seen swimming to seaward. Graetz's narrative follows:

"I started drifting westward with the current, swimmingly as well, about 200 yards from the shore. The Nips were still firing spasmodically and sent some patrols along the beach toward the jetty. They did not go right along the beach, however; possibly I was out of their sight in the waves. The tide gradually took me towards shore and I landed on the west side of the But jetty, which hid my movement from the Nips along the beach. A solitary Nip was sitting on the sand 100 yards westward but he did not seem to see me so I crawled into the scrub at the end of the beach when he was looking the other way.

This would be about 1430 hours, and, as I felt very weak from the constant bleeding of the wounded ear, I crawled under a bush nearby and just lay there. At dusk I saw guards posted along the beach, singly and about fifty yards apart. I fell asleep but awoke at approximately 2200 hours. Hearing considerable motor truck activity both ways along the coastal road nearby, I tried to see what was going on but collapsed and lay there till dawn. In crawling through the scrub after getting ashore I had lost my shirt and trousers and was naked during the night.

"May 21-Awaking at dawn I had strength enough to crawl back and locate my clothing which was close by. I saw the P-40s come down in the morning and strafe the Beaufort until it burned in the surf. (I do not think the Nips got out to the aeroplane to remove any of the parts.) I felt very weak as the wound had bled right through the night. Later I became almost delirious and so lay under a bush nearby f or the rest of the day. Slept there that night.

"May 22 In the early morning I decided to try to make my way to Tadji and set out toward the east end of the But drome. At Au Creek I found two large bomb craters partially filled with clear water. Having had no water yet, except dew from the leaves of bushes, I lay in a crater in the water for several hours drinking copiously. In the afternoon I made my way to the But drome, finding the runway filled with huge craters and many damaged Nip planes around it. At 18oo hours, after inspecting the strip, I made my way to the beach, not having seen any sign of life.

Having decided that it would be best to travel by night I started westward but at the mouth of the Manib Creek I almost walked into a Jap sentry who was sitting down looking seaward. I sat down near him and he did not challenge so I crawled off the beach. Just then about forty Nips carrying lanterns came out to the edge of the scrub and commenced carrying large packages, which were being unloaded from trucks, up to a small headland at the east of the creek mouth. I lay watching this for forty-five minutes and noticed that some of the loads were very heavy packing cases. When the activity ceased I crawled back to the beach and slept under a bush. Throughout this day I had felt very hungry but had no food.

"May 23-After awaking in the morning I tried to build a raft from empty drums and coconut logs but it collapsed when trying to launch it. Along the entire track was laid yellow phone line so I cut 2oo yards of this in an endeavour to repair the raft but was unsuccessful. Walking along the beach I located a camouflaged 3-inch coastal gun, which was in an emplacement the back of which was open so that easy movement was possible, as the gun was mounted on wheels. The protruding barrel was camouflaged with palm leaves. In an effort to disable the gun I put several handfuls of sand down the muzzle and in the breech mechanism.

Nearby, were several weapon pits designed for machine guns. This was about noon and I spent the rest of the day wandering round the But strip inspecting the enemy planes. There I found a waterproof sheet and the silk from a para-frag bomb. Henceforth, I used the silk at night to wrap myself in so that my wet clothes could dry. That evening after spreading grass over the leading edge of the mainplane of an aeroplane I slept under it. Earlier in the afternoon
whilst bathing in a bomb crater I saw at least thirty Nips moving east and west along tracks at the foot of the hills on the south side of the strip. All these Nips were carrying arms and packs.

"May 24-At 0600 hours two Nips came walking past the plane but did not see me as the grass provided shelter. They were each carrying a machine gun and had probably come from the weapon pits seen the previous afternoon. Having decided to push westward I crossed the strip and found the coastal track which led me to Manib Creek. In some deserted native huts Japs had been living on the cast bank of the creek, but as a strafing attack had just been carried out in the area the huts were deserted. Entering the huts I took towels and a water bottle as well as shirts. Went through the personal kit of one Nip but found nothing of interest. Just opposite this hut a 3-ton truck was pulled right in under the trees and seemed serviceable so I pulled out the distributor wires. Crossing Mamb Creek a further group of huts was found. These had been used as a dump for medical supplies which were scattered everywhere, apparently by bomb blasts.

"Continuing west along the track but keeping to the scrub to the side I found an apparent motor repair pool where six fuel tankers and six 3-ton trucks were pulled in under the trees. just as I had pulled the wiring from the distributors on two of the trucks two Japs were seen across the track in a hut. They did not see me so I inspected the contents of other nearby huts finding that they contained spare parts and M.T. tools and aeroplane parts. I had gone only a short way along the road when a heavy strafing and bombing attack was made by many A.20s. Taking shelter under a wide spreading tree off the road I found the experience terrifying.

Bombs exploded nearby and later a belly-tank was dropped on the tree and hit by tracer, the fire burning part of the tree. At least half an acre of surrounding grass was also burnt out by the belly-tank but, unfortunately, there were no stores in that area. I lay under a tree off the track for the rest of the day and at 1830 hours about fifty fully equipped and packed troops started assembling. About seven trucks came along and picked up the Nips, going off in both directions. In view of the activity I slept under a large tree. Two Nips slept on the farther side from me.

"May 25-Awaking in the morning I found that the Nips had gone. At 0730 hours I set out along the track for Tadji. The road was very muddy and showed signs of the use of chains on M.T. During the morning at least six Nips, walking singly, came east along the track. They seemed to be very weary and were avoided by stepping into the undergrowth. Earlier in the morning I had seen what seemed to be several gun pits cut out of a scarred hillside, in a position which would command the coastal road.

Continuing the walk through the muddy road I started to cross a small creek down a steep embankment when I saw an elderly and tired Nip also crossing toward me. I walked straight past and he took no notice of me. just across another creek in a clearing I saw six Japs, all armed, but walked right on past them. They merely looked and said nothing. Several more were met all walking eastward along the track and they all seemed tired and disinterested with arms hanging down at their sides. Some grunted to me as I passed them and I grunted back in reply.

"At 1430 hours I rested off the track and drank from the water bottle. Though I had not had any food I was now losing desire for it, but tried to eat some fruit looking like apples. They had a furry taste like a green persimmon. At nearly every one of the several creeks along the road Japs were met but
they all seemed tired and dejected. In a clearing on the west bank of a small stream twenty Nips with packs and arms stacked were resting. They appeared to be smarter than others seen to date but did nothing but sit up as I walked past. That night I slept on the beach west of Bai, hearing some truck
activity during the night. I slept well as I was now feeling, stronger.

"May 26-Starting out again along the track 2t Ninahau River twenty Nips were found working on a bridge near the mouth. When sighting me they yelled out but resumed work when I made no reply. I worked my way along the cast bank of the river looking for a place to cross. Several attempts were made but none successful until opposite the village of Nuguluwela where I crossed. (This is about four miles from the coast.) Taking a course parallel to the coast through the thick scrub in the foothills I came across a Jap boiling six billies of tea. He came forward calling out, but I waved my hand across my face as if in pain and walked on, changing direction, to the coast. Reaching the Anumb River I found 100 Japs bathing in the river. Lower down the stream more were bathing and washing clothes. At a narrow part I crossed the river and almost walked into a large working party of fresh-looking troops who were constructing a road along the high bank at the west of the river. Camps were also being built, the frames of native type huts being erected and a start made in covering them with grass. I hid in the trees until the road was clear, crossed it and made for the foothills again. Towards dusk, at the top of a high feature, I found a large log, and, as heavy rain had started, slept under it with leaves laid on each side to keep the rain out. I had lost the desire for food but had drunk much water during the day.

"May 27-The whole of the morning was spent battling through thick bush in an effort to reach the coast again. Near Salaminara Creek the coast road was reached but it was now only a foot-track and still very muddy. A few small groups of Nips were seen washing in creeks as I made my way to the coast. I kept on walking through several inches of mud along the track and that night slept just off the road in the bush. Again I had no food but drank at least two canteens of water from the creeks. No wheel tracks had been seen during that day.

"May 28-Though feeling weak I continued along the track, which is probably invisible from the air as undergrowth is heavy and high. Along the sides of the tracks were. evidences of camp fires. Met odd lone Nips walking eastward and saw several lying on the road-side apparently too tired to be interested in me. Some dead Nips, one putrefied, were also seen along the track. Just before reaching Dumbun Creek a shot was heard just ahead, but it was apparently someone shooting at game. I lay in the scrub and saw two Japs approaching. They were carrying on a pole between them two wheels similar to those of a mountain gun and were coming east.

Rested from 0930 till 1000 as I was feeling weaker. When I approached the bank of the Dumbun Creek I saw a small native hut beside the track with two Nips sitting in it. The Nips looked up but took no action as I crossed the footbridge of two parallel logs. The village of Niap was deserted with two dead Japs in different huts. Continued to push on and reached the Danmap River at 1330 hours. A small village just east of the river was deserted as I passed by. "While I was trying to get across the Dam-nap River P-39s, which were to the west, flew over me and later two came back and circled low down, waggling their wings to me.

THE ROAD TO SALAMI

WHEN the R.A.A.F. landed on Los Negros, a few days after the assault at Momote, Hyane Harbour, the road to Salami was more like a scene from World War I than any other battlefield in the South-West Pacific.

Los Negros is a small semi-circular rind of coral sand, coconut plantation and rain forest lying like the clasp on a lady's handbag at the eastern end of the much larger and higher Manus Island, in the Admiralties group, three hundred miles north of New Guinea.

Momote airstrip runs roughly north and south in a coconut plantation on the eastern bulge of the island, and access to it from the sea is through the difficult fifty-yards-wide passage into Hyane Harbour, where the original landing was made.

The road to Salami Plantation runs north along a narrow neck of land between Hyane Harbour and an arm of Papitalai Har6our. which nearly bisects the island from west to east. It runs first through the northern end of the Momote Plantation, then through a stretch of marsh rising into rain forest. and then turns north-west through the Salami Plantation to Salami Beach.

The Japs expected the attack to come through Seeadler Harbour on to the easy Salami beach. Instead the Americans struck through the narrow Hyane Passage straight at Momote. The attack was preceded and accompanied by terrific bombing and shelling barrages. The broken stumps of coconut trees, torn, burnt, splintered into fibrous brushes, churned ashy-grey earth, and the mangled bodies of the enemy dead presented a scene of utter carnage when the R.A.A.F. units landed.

Farther along the mossy greenery of thick jungle had taken the impact of destruction less showily, but here and there shells had clean cut the top from tall jungle trees and in one instance a shell had made a hole through the three-foot trunk of a tree which still stood.

R.A.A.F. personnel making the uneasy passage (snipers and stragglers were still abroad) from Mornote to Salami saw ample evidence of accurate Allied bombing and Japanese defence preparations. Every clearing, native garden and motor pool along the way had been neatly pock-marked by Allied bombs, mostly thousand-pounders. In places, bomb craters made a regular indentation just along the edge of the road. At one motor pool a Japanese buff-coloured old-fashioned-looking truck still stood in lonely shrapnel-shattered desolation. Scattered near it, flying personnel had been torn by the flying steel, sprawling face forward, ugly huddles of discolored rag, steel helmets ripped with gaping holes as if they had been cardboard.

Farther along, a Jap had crouched for protection behind the spreading roots of a jungle tree which had served him poorly. Over all hung, a ghastly air of utter desolation and the awful smell of death and decay.

At intervals along the road enemy ammunition dumps still stood as they had been left, neatly plied cases stamped with the weird hieroglyphics of Japanese writing, and covered with the now dead fronds of palm trees.

There were signs of comfort too. Sturdy floored huts with beds and mosquito nets, big enough to cover a company of men, a scatter of clothes showing, hasty evacuation, cookhouses with the n*ce still in the boilers, and cases of Japanese jam in scattered disorder.

At Salami Beach there was a fury of activity-Seabees busy with constructional work and machines which made the toy Japanese equipment look ridiculous, bicycles instead of jeeps, tiny bicycle-wheeled trailers and handcarts abandoned in the undergrowth where bulldozers and giant trucks now tore through in record-making construction; tanks, guns, aeroplanes coming ashore ready for the since successful assault against Lorengau. If Tojo could be given a bird's-eye view, a clairvoyant vision, of this tremendous mechanized activity, the futility of his grasp at world domination would become instantly apparent.

Brave, tenacious, fanatical, but without resource, his armies of men with machines must eventually yield to the mighty weight of the gigantic Allied war machine which out-tops his best like a Colossus.

With a secure niche in this vast machine the R.A.A.F. has played an important part in this latest conquest from within a few days of the initial landing. Daily R.A.A.F. Kittyhawks have escorted bombers, patrolled the sky, bombed and strafed enemy strongpoints, and R.A.A.F. technicians and specialists have worked side by side with Americans in making the Admiralties safe from counter-attack.

When the R.A.A.F. units went ashore under fire from Lobortutu Point, where Japanese batteries commanded Hyane Passage, the front fine was only 150 yards away, and the enemy were raging in a desperate counter-attack to recapture Momote strip. Reinforcements which came with the R.A.A.F. turned the ride, and, within a few more days all the eastern side of Los Negros was cleared of all but a few stray snipers and half-starved stragglers.

When the Kittyhawks arrived, following a few days after the pioneer ground personnel, the most persistent Japanese strongpoint left on Los Negros was Hill 260, 800 yards from Papitalal Point, and about 2000 yards from the northern end of the strip. Here, a hundred or more Japs were strongly duo, in along a prepared defence line, probably a rearguard for the remnants of the Momote and Salami garrisons who were streaming across to Manus and Lorengau, then the hard core of Japanese resistance in the Admiralties.

American mortar and ground bridgeheads guarded Porlaka Point, on the Momote side, and Papitalal Point, on Hill 26o side, while O.Ps kept a strict watch on all the other crossings over Lemondrol Creek towards the strip in case of an attempted counter-attack or foray. Heavy American artillery based around Momote kept up a regular barrage on the Jap positions and along Lemondrol Creek barge routes, but the only aircraft based on Los Negros at that time were the R.A.A.F. Kittyhawk units which daily bashed either at Hill 260 or Lorengau. So close was the Hill 260 target that ground personnel working on the strip or at the Ops Room could stand and watch the Kittyhawks in action. These early excitements soon passed and the R.A.A.F. units have now settled down to the routine of operational work from a strip nearer Tokyo than any Australian troops have yet been in this war theatre.

FLIGHT-LIEUTENANT NORMAN BARTLETT