Japan PM unveils plaque at war memorial

Caption:  Grand Chief Sir Michael Somare sharing a few words with the PM Abe at the Memorial site.

Caption:  Prime Minister Abe reading the inscription of the plaque he unveiled.

Caption:  The PM being told by a veteran of the war of the events that took place there.

By MATTHEW VARI

Sunday, July 13, 2014 (Sunday Chronicle, PNG)

OVERLOOKING Wewak town itself sits a memorial in the hill known to the locals a Mission Hill is where a Japanese War Memorial stands, which was described as one of the strongest points in the Japanese defence of their occupation of Wewak.

Visiting the site the Prime Minister of Japan Sinzo Abe got a personal feel to what his countrymen went through during the war.

Veterans from the battle and eventual surrender of Japanese forces were on hand to give their Prime Minister firsthand recollections of how they fought during their occupation in the north of the country.

After paying his respects at the site, the PM unveiled a plaque to signify his visit to the site   

Speaking to this reporter a local elder and landowner at the hill area, Anton Pakiawi, said that the site was where the Japanese camped out and dug tunnels under as they bunkered down in the defence of the occupied territory.

“This was their stronghold where the allies found it difficult to penetrate, and this makes it a significant spot in their history,” Pakiawi said.

“He is here to see for himself and feel how his men felt at that time of the war in 1942 to 1945 just to come and pay respect to the close to 90,000 of 100,000 troops lost their lives.”

Of the 100,000 Japanese soldiers of the 18th Army that were stationed at Wewak, just over 13,000 survived the war to surrender.

“Before the war it was a missionary station, and when the war broke out here it was bombed, and when the war ended the missionaries returned- because they were here first,” Pakiawi explained.

It was created by Sacred Heart Brothers who look after Juveniles under the age of 18 who have been convicted of crimes they come here to be rehabilitated at still performs that role to this day.