The heart can kill, or it can liberate me & my Bougainville society
somewhere by the sea

Is this wartime Keravat graveyard still to be found?

Keravat graveyard 1936KEITH JACKSON

MARTIN Hadlow has been in touch wondering if any of our readers know if this graveyard is still in existence.

The photo is said to have been taken in 1936 at Kerevat on the Gazelle Peninsula.

It is believed that it shows the graves of the Australian soldiers killed in 1914 when the Australian Expeditionary Force fought and defeated the German garrison at Bita Paka which was guarding the strategically important wireless station.

If you know more about this graveyard, write a few words and send them to us through the Comment link below.

SBS journalist Stefan Armbruster has written:

Bita Paka was a vital German radio station relaying orders to the Imperial Navy fleet across the Pacific and Australia was charged with destroying it. The battle claimed the lives of six Australians, one German and dozens of New Guineans before Kaiser Wilhelmsland was captured.

Australia’s success on the battle field was tarnished by looting and accusation of breaching the rules of war for flogging German civilians in a punishment beating.

"This operation is Australia's first ever operation as a country, and Australia requested we be sent north to capture the German territories of New Guinea and the German wireless station,” said historian David Howell.

“Germany had a squadron of ships that patrolled through the Pacific and South East Asia and by taking out that wireless station they stopped that threat of those German ships, the same ships that would have most likely sunk ships taking our troops over to Europe and ultimately Gallipoli."

An audio recording held by the Australian War Memorial of the late Colonel Basil Holmes recalls Australia's first battle against the Germans.

"Nobody knew where the wireless station was. So it was decided that somebody knew it was 30 miles or thereabouts from Rabaul. Well, we looked at 30 miles from Rabaul. It's very likely to be down Herbertshohe way,” Colonel Holmes said.

“In the morning of 11 September 1914, (we) landed at daylight and they hadn't gone far before they were opposed by trenches across the road and fired on.”

About 50 soldiers and sailors landed but who was the first uniformed Australian killed in the First World War is disputed.

"Billy Williams, the able seaman from North Cote in Victoria, and he certainly was the first casualty, followed by captain Pockley, who took his Red Cross armband off and performed the first feat of bravery, if you will, in the Great War for Australia.

“But little is known about the rest of the men that lost their lives on that day, including John Courtney who was advancing through the jungle and he was shot in the chest and the base of the skull and killed outright,” said Mr Howell.

Kieta township 1914By the way, if you're Bougainvillean or an old Bougainville hand, you may be interested in this photograph provided by Martin hadlow.

It shows the beachfront and main (only) street of Kieta township as it was in 1914 just before World War I began.

When I lived there in 1970-73, I felt that Kieta and its fine harbour must have been the most beautiful place in the South Pacific.

Let's hope that the town can one day recapture its former glory.

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