“The coast watchers never saw any Germans, but the day after Pearl Harbour, Jones and two unarmed soldiers were taken prisoner from Butaritari. They spent the rest of the war in a POW camp in Japan. Other coast watchers on the northern atolls were also captured and sent to Japan.
But on the atolls south of Tarawa the 22 coast watchers and unarmed soldiers were left untouched until September 1942 when the Japanese rounded them up.
They were taken to Tarawa and locked up with five other European civilians. …
What happened at around 2pm is not clear, as a brief investigation by district officer David Wernham later reported.
Some say a US warship shelled the island and two aircraft attacked Japanese ships in the lagoon. One of the prisoners may have waved to the planes. …
Local man Mikaere said …
"One Japanese came to the bishop's fence and showed him his sword which was stained with blood. It was fresh. The Japanese said the European who had run away was dead."
At around 5pm, Mikaere said he heard a lot of noise and when he looked out, he could see the white men standing in a line about 40 metres away.
"While I was sitting in that house I saw all the Europeans sitting down in line in front of the first house inside the lunatic enclosure. There were a lot of Japanese coolies inside the enclosure."
As the men sat on the ground, a white man was pulled out of the house.
It may have been Handley. He was made to lie down in front of the others.
"They are going to kill us all, be brave lads," Handley called out.
"One Japanese stepped forward to the first European in the line and cut his head off," Mikaere said.
"Then I saw a second European have his head cut off and I could not see the third one because I fainted."…
It fell to the Americans over a year later when, in the three-day Battle of Tarawa, 6000 men were torn to pieces on 116 hectare Betio, smaller than the Auckland Domain.
Nothing was found of the dead New Zealanders. The Americans erected a small memorial to them.
Despite orders not to get close to the locals, the radio operators and the soldiers had relationships with the women of the atolls, and left a number of children.
The New Zealand Government discretely paid for their education. Their many grandchildren can still be found in Kiribati. …
EXECUTED AND REMEMBERED 70 YEARS ON
Soldiers
Ray Ellis, Auckland - thought going to the tropics would cure a bad knee
Robert Hitchon, Waitoa - "a very shy sort of person"
Dallas Howe, Thames - a bricklayer who built the town's convent
Reg Jones, Auckland - at 42, the oldest coast watcher
Claude Kilpin, Manuwaru - a farmer
Rod McKenzie, Kopaki - a farmer
Jack Nichol, Te Puke - a fluent Maori speaker
Charles Owen, Masterston - his girlfriend Taengeri gave birth to Tiare (now Charlotte) later.
Joe Parker, Tirau - his girlfriend Taate gave birth to a girl, Tio, later.
Leslie Speedy, Wairarapa - his girlfriend Tatu to a boy, Leo, later.
Post Office radio operators
Arthur Heenan, Middlemarch - a farmer's son and Mr Jones' friend
Rex Hearn, Hastings - a fine pianist
John McCarthy, Auckland - a devout Catholic
Arthur McKenna, Big River - a West Coast miner's son and Mr Jones' friend”
[Source: https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/6806205/Last-Coast-Watcher-remembers, Published: 25/04/2012, Accessed: 14/11/2023]
