Banaba: place of most wretched events

Newspaper reveals Pacific people’s war horror

The story of a 1945 massacre on the island of Banaba is little known. In 1999 in Kiribati, I interviewed the only survivor, Kabunare Koura. His account of the massacre is told here, ‘Yes, I am ready to die’.

Another account has re-emerged through a Sāmoan newspaper, O Le Sulu Sāmoa, The Lantern of Sāmoa. First published in 1839 by the London Missionary Society. It continues its publication today under the auspices of Le Ekalesia Fa’apotopotoga Kerisiano i Samoa / Congregational Christian Church of Samoa. 

Important extracts of its journalism are being given a wider audience, through the work of the O le Sulu Samoa Project. 

The piece below was written by a pastor, Elise Rusia, who had been on Banaba when Japanese occupied it in August 1942. He survived the war and reported on what happened in O Le Sulu Sāmoa, published in the July 1946 edition.

This translation was made by Ole Sulu’s Wanda Ieremia Allan. 

It is a graphic story.

One of the people mentioned is Reverend Elder Iupeli. He was present on Tawara as Japanese soldiers murdered New Zealand coastwatchers. In A Last Secret I told a little of his story. 

O le Taia mai Panapa

Tusia e Rusia, F.F

The removal of people from Banaba in Kusae, Ponape, Tarawa started in the month of May 1943. There was a staggered shipment of people on a series of journeys. Groups were taken to Tarawa, Kusae, Ponape and Nauru. We were on the fourth journey to Kusae, which departed on July 19 1943 and was diverted suddenly to Nauru. We were taken ashore for what was falsely explained to us, to be a temporary rest ahead of our journey. We were surprised by the unloading of our items to shore and the discovery of passengers from two previous journeys that had left for Ponape ahead of us. We were all put together in the most inhospitable shelter. Soon afterwards, another two voyages followed which further crowded this very small island. There were 1000 of us from Banaba and local Nauruans of 1200; there had already been a removal of 1000 Nauruans to Ponape and Ruka. Our permanent resettlement of two and a half years had begun.

It is so very difficult to express in words the extreme suffering we encountered on this island. The hunger was most unbearable which was further compounded by the cruelty of the government of Japan.  Our pain forced us to put aside our sympathy for the bombing of many Japanese people by the Americans. There was absolutely no food to eat in the two and a half years, and we are usually given a glass of water daily before made to sit all day. We learned to eat the grass during those days: we found a species of grass called the Katuli, the fruit of the Nonu and of a tree - likened to the Mati tree - but these were all too quickly eaten as there were too many of us on this island. We are most demoralised by the fact that the land is now completely ruled the Japanese. Their rule was so brutal and we are beaten severely with whips made from the trunks of pawpaw trees, banana and a tree called the tausunu, when we are found wandering in the bush in search of food. We look for these trees in particular to eat because they are known to stabilise stomach pain. They mercilessly make us perform extremely gruelling and painful work which we had never previously experienced. We excavated earth and built a fence perimeter around the entire island and another ring above the beach topped with barbed wire. We also built an enclosure for them to hide and shelter. This work was performed under extreme cruelty as we were not even allowed to stand or stretch our backs. The punishment is unrivalled. Many died from starvation and others by bombs. We felt so isolated and bereft, made worse by the absence of news from the warfront.