Lat
2° 34' 0S Long 150° 48' 0E Located at the western tip of New Ireland.
History
Located
on the east coast of New Ireland, the town was first settled by the
German administration established a network of fine roads. A small
Australian Imperial Force, No 3 Section and a small force about 250
commandos of the 1st Independent Company arrived in July 1941. As
the threat of war seemed imminent, white women and children were evacuated
on Christmas, 1941 with only a few opting to stay behind to destroy
installations. Most Australians were evacuated the town on the night
of January 21/22 at 2230. Others planned to escape on small ships
including Navanor and Shamrock.
Japanese Occupation
A Japanese landing force from Truk arrived to
occupy the town on
January 23-24 1942 while other forces simultaneously occupied Rabaul.
Facing virtually no opposition, the Mai No 2 Special Infantry was
transported to New Hanover,
Mussau and Emira looking for Allied forces but found no oppositions,
returning to Rabaul in mid-January. Many Japanese veterans
recalled the location as: "That
it is a beautiful place as the heaven." the kanji KA-BI-EN meant "excellent-beautiful-garden".
American plans originally called for a land invasion of Kavieng,
but on March 12, 1944 the Joint Chiefs canceled the scheduled invasion,
as part of the island hopping strategy to bypass the heavily fortified
area and liberated Hollandia and Emirau instead. Allied
bombing had neutralized the base and cut it off from the air and
sea.
Don Fetterly adds:
"There are still bomb craters in Kavieng township
itself and one can look and imagine the B-25 staffers coming along
the sea front and pounding away at anything that moves. I have
with me some very good war time maps of Kavieng and these will
help me to trace the gun pits and taxi ways along the airfield."
Japanese
& American Missions Against Kavieng
January 21, 1942 -
April 8, 1944
Kavieng Airfield
Built by the Australians prior to the war, occupied by the Japanese until the end of the war.
Japanese
Naval Guns & Fortifications
Japanese Naval guns hidden in the jungle near the coast
a few kilometers from Kavieng. Also, there are a number
of bunkers, pillboxes near the modern golf course.
Kavieng Warph
The order to kill all the European prisoners in Kavieng if
an imminent invasion by Allied forces was expected, was given by Rear
Admiral Ryukichi Tamura, commander at Kavieng. Sometime in early 1944,
(possibly late February or mid-March 1944) at least 25 unnamed Australian civilians
were murdered on the Kavieng wharf. At dusk they were led, blindfold,
one at a time, from the road to the edge of the wharf and garroted
with wire, including 14 year old David Topal. The bodies were put
in two small barges, with concrete blocks tied to their feet, and
thrown overboard between Nago and Edmago islands.
After the war, Admiral Tamura went on trial
with 5 of his subordinates in 1947 in Hong Kong. he law for War Crimes
permitted only British deaths to be prosecuted and the others, some
German priests and other non British civilians were not mentioned.
While many of the names can be guessed at, it is not known exactly
who died on the day.
Kavieng
Harbor
There are many discovered and
undiscovered aircraft wrecks in the harbor, and shipwrecks,
including a Japanese midget submarine and a tanker. In addition
there is beautiful fish and coral life and large sea life
including sharks, rays, barracuda plus strong tidal currents
in some areas.
