HIDDEN 18 MONTHS

Dominion, Volume 38, Issue 289, 5 September 1945, Page 7

HIDDEN 18 MONTHS

Japanese On Green Island FOUND BY NATIVES (By Telegraph.—Press Assn. —Copyright.) (It N.Z.A.F. Official War Correspondent). BOUGAINVILLE, August 29. Green Island has produced a line mystery story. Three Japanese have lived there undelected all through the occupation by the Third New Zealand Division, the occupation by the Americans and the R.N.Z.A.F., and judging by the appearance of one brought to Bougainville for interrogation, they lived quite well. Green Island is the name generally given to ii gro&p of small islands, • and the mystery of the three Japanese occurred on Nissan, one of the islets in the group. Many servicemen have been all over Nissan. It could be covered by foot in a day. Indeed, many members of the R.N.Z.A.F. who served there simply cannot believe the story. But .the facts prove that the three Japanese lived on Nissan till they were found by natives a few weeks ago. One was killed, another wounded and the third was captured uninjured and brought to Bougainville. The three elusive Japanese were the remnants of the enemy force that occupied the Green group. . They became stowaways and their "ship” was a tropical island. But they did better than the average stowaway because, they successfully remained in hiding tor T 8 months,‘as it. was on February Jo, 1J44. that the New Zealand Division occupied Nissan. The Japanese who was brought to Bougainville is of short build; his muscles are well developed and he obviously suffered no ill-effects. He appeared before intelligence officers clad in an American khaki singlet, and what appeared to be New Zealand army trousers held up with an American belt. He wore no boots. A police native put the questions to the. prisoner at Bougainville. He used pidgin Japanese and pidgin English. It was certainly a babel of sound, but the interpreter. was able to make a satisfactory tiTinslation of the replies. The Japanese remembered, the arrival of the New Zealand Division on Nissan. He saw the Americans arrive; and he also saw the New Zealand air task force; But. with his two‘companions he mtinnged to keep iu bidin®* ... Fishing and {tiicabng.

Thev hud lived by fishing and stealing food froii) various camps. U the disuppearance of their food that caused the unlives on Green to suspect that there were thieves around. A search was immediately organized by the combined ,(‘Black Watch” forces of the Allied Intelligence Bureau and the Austra-lian-New Guinea Administration Unit (Angau). The three Japanese were found fishing off the small atoll. lire natives carried .303 rifles, but they did not want to kill the enemy. Instead, they wanted to capture them, so they gave chase. One of the Japanese turned and threw a grenade, but he had not tupped it. to release the mechunisni, mid even Ihnugli it hit a native, on the back it did no damage. The native, was able Io catch tiin Japanese and diwirm lii.nl. He bad ,-i pistol, for which, be carried iniprovigeij carbine ammunition, and he also currleil a knife. The other two Japenese were rounded up some, tune inter in a search in which all available Europeans also look part. One was killed and the other wounded. x How the Japanese managed .to .evade capture for IS months is inexplicable. But au important medical fact has come out of the mystery. The Japanese who was brought to Bougainville had no skin diseases. He was stripped and subjected to a close examination, and even thought he had walked round with bnre feet, parasites had not affected him. Tlio obvious conclusion is that the Japanese can acclimatize himseif to tropical conditions far better than « while man ever could. . There is another point about the mystery. The capture of the three Japanese 'terminated the action begun by the New Zealand Division in I'ebriiary, 111 14: in other woyds, th" so-called Sons of Heaven have been completely cleared from the Green group of islands.