Evening star., 1943-11-07

tine tOlloWinq story 1CdS rrit-
| ten bU Marine Gunner Gordon
A. GrOl0den OF Kalamazoo. Mich.
q Marine Corps public relations
officer, and distributed By the
Associated PreSSJ
| TANAMBOGO ISLAND, SOlomons.
The caves of Tanambogo were
opened recently. revealing the hor-
rihle end of some 1900 Japs on this
island and on adjoining Gavutu. The
entrances were dynamited shut in
August, 1912, by Maj. Harry Togeson
Of New York.
The Japs at that time refused to
surrender, and, with the bodies of
their comrades piled high in front
Of them, they continued to rain
machine gun fire from tunnel
entrances until entombed
The islands, now in the hands Of
our forces, are being rebuilt During
this work a bulldozer and drag line
cutting down the side of a hill broke
through into one Of the tunnels.
/ Two members Of the Seabee con-
struction battalion entered the shaft.
They found it thigh-d deep with
wate". bodies, and insect life. They
retreated quickly The air so af-
fected them that they were hospi-
talized and the entrance was re-
sealed.
/ 7 learned of the discovery and
went to Tanambogo to visit this
Jap pureatory.
Slides Into Shaft.
A Seabee chief petty officer
/ agreed to open the mouth of the
tunnel. Stripped to my shorts and
/ carrying flaslllight, I slid feet
first into the shaft.
/ Just in front of me. draped over
metal drum. were two uniforms
encasing bones. Atop the drum,
against the wall, were two gaping
skulls. the lower jaw bones missing
and the upper teeth barred Perched
atop the farthesJ skull was a red
eyed, Caliban toad. unbelievablv
large to any one vino has not seen
these tropical amphibians.
The atmosphere was thick and
unbearable; bones turned under
foot; Stigian insects were buzzing
around my ears and crawling in ny
hair; I turned around and hastily
cTept out into the fresh air.
A plunge in the ocean refreshed |
me and I arranged to return. prop
erly equipped, for anothe: attempt
to reach the caverns beyond.
The next morning, accompanied |
by doctor and several spectators.
II returned to the island. 1 was
attlred in an oil-skin suit and wore
rubber hin boots and rubber gloves. |
Over my face l tied a gauze hospital |
mask and I carried battle light in
one hand and a short five tined rake |
in the other.
Fallen Roof Blocks Progress.
Entering the shaft I pushed in as
far as possible, disregarding the OBJ
iects that bobbed against my legs |
Travelling about 80 feet through
passage cut from solid rock / came |
to where the walls and roof had .
been shored by timbers. These had .
rotted and given way. causing The |
roof to fall and block further pene-
tration.
I turned back, working my way
slowly and felt along under the muck
with my feet, raising to the surface |
with my rake any articles I en-
countered. Floating in my path
were more uniforms and bobbing
skulls.
I crawled into the open and nearly
collapsed. I sat on rock with the
intention of giving up my eXplora-
tions. But, restored by brief rest,
I lowered myself into a second cave.
1t was penetrable for less than 10
feet A third entrance was nearly
under water. I went on a sit-down
strike.
But a short distance away, the
fourth opening was of ample di-
mensions, and I resumed my sub
terranean prowl. This shaft was
wider and higher than the others.
There was only few inches of
water on the floor. making inspec-
ton relatively simple.
Empty food cans and cooking pots
Uttered the place. There were