The Waterbury Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1917-1946, 1943-03-16

were Japs."
Shave tells you that material out
ranks men in the eyes Of the Japan
csc military leaders.
"In their retreat down the 10
koda track and elsewhere In this
area" he said, "they thought moth
ing OF leaving suicide rearguards
behind them TO be killed or starved
TO death. We have rearguards too
to protect retreat when We have
to, but we always try to provide
some last minute means OF escape
for them. Not so our enemy. The
rear guard is written off the min
ute It's posted.
Compared to Cannibals
"The Japs over here on the north
coast (of New Guinea have been
reduced to cannibalism. They have
eaten the bodies of recently killed
soldiers, Australians and Americans.
We have no evidence that any men
were killed for the purpose OF being
eaten. Rather, the Japs seem to
have sent foray parties out on the
battlefield to bring In bodies.
I'VE found human flesh wrapped
IN banana leaves near the mutilated
body OF sergeant the other day.
We have also found In the same
area Japanese canteen with the
cooked bones OF human hand"
Later an American officer con-
CURED In the statement that the
Japanese were pratticing cannibal-
ism, and said he had proof OF 1t.
Up at the front you get another
Insight into the makeup Of the
enemy. You get II from Lieutenant
General Robert l.. Eichelberger,
former superintendent Of West Point,
who commands all Allied advanced
forces In New Guinea. His gentle
manner gives no indication of what
q tough fighter he Is here in the
jungles.
Eichelberger, known here as
"Uncle Ike" Is casting up the score
Of a days fighting and making out
his report to General Douglas Mac
Arthur when you meet him. You
ask him about the quality Of the
Japanese soldier.
"Those Japs were in truly terrible
condition." he tells you. I'VE weigh
ed In q captured prisoner today.
Fifty-two pounds, and still alive.
why do they hang on, the little
animals, and make this war I'm.
necessarily bloody? Because they
had no instructions to the contrary.
I presume, and had been schoolcd
not to use their own brains or mi.
tiative. Their position was hopeless
and we killed every man jack OF
them at Higgins today, as you saw.
Tomorrow we will have to do the
same thing to their two remaining
positions.
"Our men will have to stay all
day long tomorrow in the rotten
jungle water surrounding those po-
sitions, doubt that ever before
have American troops fought under
such handicaps. But by nightfall we
will have killed all the Japs and
those positions will be out Of the
way"
You are interested to observe that
BY nightfall the next day, exactly as
Uncle Ike had said, the Jap posi-
tons were In possession Of the
Americans and the Australians, and
the Papuan campaign had been won
because all the Japs were dead or
dying.
This unshakeable determination
to hang on contrasts strangely with
ten occasional and seemingly capri
cious orders of the command to
yield territory and troops.
1000 Left To Die
Despite savage local resistance,
Papua fell to the Allies long before
1t might otherwise have done be.
cause the main Jap base at Rabaul
on New Britain Island decided to
check out Its Papaun forces as lost
and simply ceased to send in more
supplies or achievements or to at
tempt any evacuation.
Thereby more than 1000 men
were left to survive a few weeks as
best they could until starvation or
Allied rifle fire brought the end.