WWII Choiseul encounters with Japanese and American Forces

Japanese troops arrived in 1941, searching for a staging location after having taken control of parts of Bougainville and the Shortland Islands. Initially, 1000 troops landed, but by 1943, the number had risen to 5000 as they were driven north by the allies. They were confined to the northern part of Choiseul, about one third of the island’s area, and never appeared to travel further south than Sasamuqa.

The Choiseulese in the northern area were mainly of the Catholic faith because the Catholic mission had stations at Tambatamba on the northeast coast, and at Moli Island on the Northwest coast. The loyalties of these people went to the Japanese. Missionary John Metcalfe stated that the Japanese on Choiseul made no effort to occupy the island or terrify the people. The Japanese needed to get a foothold on the west coast of Choiseul because that led them to other islands in the Western Solomons.

Japanese officer Hisafumi Saito said that he found no evidence that the Japanese forces made any concerted or organized attempts to force the Melanesians to become “the Emperor’s loyal subjects”. In fact, he pointed out that the Japanese were actually interested in the Melanesians, and assisted them whenever possible. The Japanese had been urged to go to war to “expel whitemen [sic] and enlighten the people in  … Oceania. Unfortunately, one elderly man was shot by the Japanese on Choiseul, probably because he unwittingly startled them in the bush.

When the Japanese arrived on Choiseul, there were only three Europeans – Father Albert Binois, who remained deep in the bush for much of the war, plantation owner Sub-lieutenant Carden Seton, who became a member of the Australian Imperial Force, and coast watcher Lieutenant Alexander Waddell - so there was no European-directed resistance to the Japanese.

The coast watchers served as a contact for the Allied troops to come and collect allied airmen who had been shot down, and to pick up captured Japanese. Seton arranged their evacuation from the island by motor torpedo (PT) boat or by PBY (Catalina) flying boats. The Choiseul people happily assisted with transporting prisoners to the coast watchers. Missionary Jessie Grant talked about Japanese prisoners being strung from a pole and carried like a pig being carried to a feast, including cryptic remarks that not all made it to the coast-watcher alive.

In 1943, 2nd Marine Parachute Battalion landed on Choiseul in a diversionary raid as part of “Operation Raise Hell”, intended to draw Japanese forces to Choiseul. It was known as “Operation Blissful”. Some Choiseulese, daubed with phosphorescent sap from trees so the troops could see them, led the marines through the jungle. One marine recalls sitting on a stump, and the stump grunted. The people were so dark skinned they were invisible in the night.

The Choiseul people were impressed when the occasional American airman, who had bailed out of his plane and landed at Choiseul, shared in their lotu. They were grateful for gifts of chocolate and other treats, but they did not become overawed by the Americans. The Americans’ main contact with the local people was with those who were scouts. Marines gave them food from their rations, but the food was unappetising to the Choiseul people. When one Marine gave some of his K-ration to Peta Nu, the disappointment on the native’s face was evident. This was compounded when he offered him a chocolate D-bar from his rations, which looked like chocolate but did not taste like it. “The smile died on his face”.

The American mission lasted seven days. Seton, who remained until the spring of 1944, assisted with directing several successful dive-bombing raids and Choiseul was no longer a significant Japanese base.