Peter Flahavin  Guadalcanal Revisited


Sunday, January 17th 1999
I met Timothy and Milay at 9.00 a.m. . Light rain began to fall as we drove up Wright Road towards the Gifu position . As we got further up Mt. Austen the rain got heavier. There was a lot of mud and water on the 500-yard track to the village , but we negotiated it without getting bogged . When we arrived in the village most people were in church and the rain was heavier (bad timing) . We sheltered from the rain under the porch of a nearby hut .

I dashed out and had a quick look under the village tree where the relics usually sit . The Zero drop tank and Betty bomber wing I first saw in 1995 were still there , the wing still deteriorating and losing a lot more paint . All the grass from last year under the tree was gone and no relics around the base any more . The nearby table only had some rotted helmets , a burst US 81mm mortar shell , a US 75mm shell , crushed Japanese mess tins and gasmask filters , rusted metalwork of an Arisaka rifle , two live Japanese grenades (one with knee mortar propellant charge attached) and a live knee mortar round . The only good item was a nice US canteen cup . It looked like all the other items that were there last year had been cleaned out by somebody .

Dashing back to cover I talked to Peter , the hut owner , who I knew from previous visits . He owned the items on the table , so I got the canteen cup . The only other item he had in his hut was a single US Army button . It was raining too heavily to walk up to Hill 27 and nobody was about , so we left and , of course , as we drove back down Wright Road the rain eased . (there was a small memorial plaque by the roadside near Hill 35 - in good condition !)

I decided to go down to Kukum Beach and take a few comparison photos there . We drove up past a lumberyard and walked down to the beach . Timothy said the whole area used to be a tip . Now there are marine businesses and lumber yards along the shore . There were a few cargo ships offshore loading timber from barges .

Behind the beach area at Kukum (Army/Marine supply landing point) there is a Taiwanese Government sponsored agricultural mission . They teach rice growing and other crops and have a pretty large area between the beach and the Lunga under cultivation . we drove along some dirt tracks between the fields and emerged further up the beach towards Lunga Point , about where the coastal artillery used to be situated . Last year we tried to get to Lunga Point by a road East of the Lunga and almost got bogged . I took photos here , but once more the constant rain hampered exploration . Pity most of the palm trees are gone!

  It had stopped raining now , so we crossed the Matanikau and drove up to the US Memorial at Skyline Ridge . I must say there was a big difference to the year before . In 1998 there were weeds about , the writing on the marble slabs showed weathering and was hard to read and the brass map plaque was showing the effects of 6 years in the sun , rain and salt air eating into it .

Lawrence had told me on Friday that the US Government now gives a monthly amount of $1,000.00 for the upkeep of the site , which is split between the two nearby village communities . I was very pleased to see that the brass plaque had been reconditioned (sent to New Zealand I was told) and looked almost brand new . Fresh paint had been applied to the lettering on the marble slabs and it really stood out now . Also no weeds in sight - altogether a very good change .!

From here we drove down across the Matanikau again and down the East bank for a couple of kilometres , past Hill 49 to roughly opposite Hill 54 . On the West Bank is Tuvaruhu village . My friend Stan had been here in October 1998 and met Michael Ben and Patrick , who are tour guides and very knowledgeable about the "Seahorse" and "Galloping Horse" hills battle areas . The river here is only about 1 foot deep , so Milay waded across , but was told they were both out and would be back later . We said we would return at 3.00 p.m.

It was now about midday , so I went back to the hotel and arranged to meet as usual at 2.00 p.m. Back in the hotel I started to clean the canteen cup and discovered it must have belonged to a Marine . Gifu was an Army battle and the only Marine participation I had read of was some attached Marine artillery observers on Hill 27 (They amused themselves by firing the Jap 70mm gun captured on the hill ) .

The canteen cup is in pretty good condition and the handle still folds . As I scrubbed I noticed on the bottom "US 1918" and what looked like a name "S AETY(?)" faintly scratched there . On one side of the cup was clearly scratched "PARRIS ISLAND" and underneath that "NEW RIVER NC" . After cleaning the cup I went for a swim .

At 2.00 p.m. we drove back to Gifu . There was no rain now and the track was still driveable . There was a soccer game going on and most of the village was watching that . As we looked at the remains near the tree a guy came over and informed us that the village council wanted to improve the church and so had decreed that "from now on" anyone wanting to climb Hill 27 would have to pay a fee of S$50.00 (US$12.00)

This took me by surprise and Timothy as well . We were undecided if he was serious or just trying to pull a fast one . I briefly thought of telling him where he could shove his $50.00 but thought better of it . I had not come all this way to walk away . I merely told him what a good idea that was to drive any tourists away and that we would pay when we came down from the hill .

Lots of grass everywhere . Looked like there had been a general clean up of relics . There used to be a pile of shrapnel and Garand clips near the Japanese memorial pillar , but now there was nothing . We walked across the hill looking in overgrown foxholes , but all we saw were totally rusted through and rotted C ration tins . All I found was a couple of pieces of shrapnel and one bottom to a Carlisle bandage packet in reasonable condition with 60% green paint still on it .

I know that a couple of years ago the villagers excavated a lot of the foxholes on the hill and probably found most of what there was to find then . Walking down the rear slope the grass was even thicker and you had to be careful not to fall into a foxhole . All I came up with here was one fragment of US hand grenade body and a couple of grenade handles .

The slopes down towards the Matanikau are the place to look - a lot of stuff still down there , but with all the rain it was too slippery at the moment . As we returned to the village the soccer game was still in progress and most people were more interested in that than bringing relics out of huts . It would have been different with no game on .

I did get talking to one villager and he went to his hut and emerged a few minutes later with a rice bag full of stuff . He had a rusted Arisaka bayonet , some Japanese water bottles , gasmask filter cans , an Arisaka rifle butt plate and assorted small items . I ended up getting a pull through from a Japanese rifle cleaning kit , two Arisaka ammo clips , 5 Jap cartridges , 3 US . 45 calibre rounds and the top of a Carlisle bandage tin (this was the WW2 version - the previous one I had found on Hill 27 last year was dated August 1918 - with the paper still on the back of the lid ) .

The guy who demanded the $50.00 fee was nowhere to be found , but another villager confirmed what he had said . This guy was friendlier and after talking to him I was convinced (well , half convinced) it was for the church�.although still a rip off . We paid , but if the priest from the morning service had still been there I would have handed it to him personally . As we drove off down the track a teenager waved us over and offered me a live US grenade and 60mm mortar shell - sorry mate , but I cant buy those !

A little further down the track another villager stopped us . He had a Japanese Nambu light MG magazine and 2 Browning Automatic Rifle magazines . Unfortunately they had been buried a long time and were very rotted . I had seen about a dozen BAR magazines excavated from a foxhole in 1996 on Hill 27 , and regret not picking one up then . As I was about to say "thanks , but no thanks" and leave he produced a Japanese Type 91 hand grenade . The others on the village table had been live , but this one was minus fuse and explosive and was a good example , so I got it .

  It was now 3.30 p.m. , so we returned to the Matanikau to see Michael Ben . He was back and waded across the river and we had a chat . I showed him the photos Stan (he remembered him) took in 1997 / 98 . I gave him some battlefield literature and he agreed to take me for a hike across the "Galloping Horse" battlefield at 9.00 a.m. on Monday .

  Then it was back to the hotel for a swim and dinner and then a cleaning session on the relics in the bathroom . The writing on the Carlisle bandage packet top came up very well when the dirt was scrubbed off .

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