Pacific Wrecks Forum

Has anyone encountered odd or strange experiences while touring Pacific battlefields? I went to Rabaul with Gary Wachter and Tom McLeod in '03. A local native showed us to the "Yamamoto command bunker" but refused to go in with us. Inside I attempted to photograph some original Japanese writing on t...

I'd love to see it. Do you know if it will be coming to the States? I want to learn more about the Australian efforts against the Japanese. All we are exposed to here in the US is the American involvement.

Where can I find losses over the Ogasawara Islands (Chichi jima, Haha jima) 1943-45? I found 1/2 of a crashed mustang back in '92 and want to go back to ID it. It had yellow & black checkered markings on the tail. It looked like it was blown up in mid-air because it was just one wing, the rear fusel...

Seeing the image of Simpson harbor made me homesick for Rabaul! I LOVE that place. I went wreck diving one day and was the only diver in the bay! It was me, the guide, the boat driver and then some old native fishing in a dugout canoe. Totally awesome!!

Don,
Is the trip you are taking to Guadalcanal with Valor Tours?

Do you have the Japanese source handy? I can read Japanese, maybe I can help.

Does anyone have information on US pilots shot down over the island and listed as MIA or KIA?

When I was living in Japan I met a WWII Lt. General who was atually just a scientist working on turning vegetable oil into fuel for airplanes. He was captured by the Russians and was in the Gulag until 1961 or '62 when he was released by Kruschev under an amnesty program. I wrote up his story in the...

Thanks for the info! There used to be a tour company that went to ATTU to view the wild birds but they stopped going in 2000. According to their website it was too expensive to operate the tour due to regulations governing the facilities they were required to maintain. Has anyone been to Attu? There...

I was on a business trip and rented a car to drive down from Sydney to see your fine war museum back in '93. I had a great time!

Daniel, This is very impressive indeed!! Does the satellite imaging allow the location of metal in the jungle? Can we use it to look for crashes that are otherwise unknown? A part of me wants to find old wrecks, but a part of me feels that once they are found they are souvenired, pillaged or salvage...

I'd love to go on a PNG - Rabaul trip as outlined in your link! I went to Rabaul in '03 with Gary Wachter guided by Tom Mcleod (Museum of the Pacific in Texas) and had a fantastic time. I think Tom is planning on a big trip in '07.

Daniel,
When are you planning on going back to PNG?

Hi Don, I thought about taking the July-August "Valor Tours" trip to Guadalcanal with the side-trip to Tarawa. But since you say the Tarawa trip is out due to airservice problems...hmm..I might wait until next year. If I go to Guadalcanal I want to hop over to Tarawa; having not been there yet. You'...

Does anyone know of a way to visit ATTU? It doesn't seem there are any tour operators out there that go there anymore.