Category Archives: Student Posts

While reading through the G-2 Operation Forager Journal for cave locations, I’m looking for a specific set of words and designated map numbers that reveal something about the caves. However, I’ve also come across some slightly disturbing reports regarding civilians on Saipan which is reminding me of the human aspect of the War, instead of the inhumane military reporting of the ‘enemy’.

The following are summaries of reports of civilians from the G-2 Operation Forager Journal for the date 21 June 1944.

The Nurse

As of the 20th, at 1900 hours “one army nurse was captured with throat cut”. She was found within a cave in the area of TA 106CD with a dead small boy, also with a cut throat.

At 1102 hours on the 21st it was reported that the nurse stated that her husband was an Army officer in charge of two companies in the area where she was captured. She said she had been wounded and could not be moved, so that when her husband left, he cut her throat and the boy’s.

At 1420 hours, Sergeant Ohta, after further interrogation of Soga Hanako, the captured “nurse”, was found not to be an army nurse. Her husband was attached to a naval construction unit on Tinian and  not an officer on Saipan. She had been on Saipan with her 12 year old son for two months,working as a nurse and midwife while waiting for transportation to Japan.  She had killed her son because of his wounds and then tried to kill herself.

The Father

On the 20th at about 1500 hours, two Japanese boys, aged 11 and 7, were discovered and questioned by interpreters, Lieutenant Haza_d [sic] and [Rank unreadable] Higashi. The oldest boy stated that a Japanese civilian was still alive in a dugout about 600 yards from the A Division Command Post.

On arrival at the dugout, the interpreters “found the dugout guarded by Marines and there was a man inside holding a dead, bloated and maggoted child in his arms and another child and woman also dead lying on the floor.”

Attempts to talk the man into coming out of the dugout were conducted, but the man replied that he had nothing to live for as his children were dead, and he wanted to be left alone.

The interpreters knew that at the current time that they would not be able to coax the man out, and left with orders to the guards to watch the man, but not shoot. About 200 yards from the dugout, the interpreters were called back by the Marines. The man had hanged himself.

The Collateral

At 1450 hours, the 105th infantry reported that around “300-500 enemy troops and [a] good deal more civilians on Nafutan Pt. running into bluffs and caves and terrain getting more rugged. Interpreter being employed to get civilians out of caves before sealing in soldiers who refused to surrender.”

Hi guys, my name is Tom Lally, long time reader but first time blogger. As some of you may be aware, the Directed Study topic, as part of the Grad-Dip in Archaeology here at Flinders is often undertaken by many of us Post-Grads. It gives us the chance to work with industry partners and undertake an in-depth research project into an area of CHM or archaeology.

For this semester I have chosen to assist Flinders’ own Mick Morrison, as well as a number of other collaborators, to develop a database that simplifies the results of published archaeological research on Indigenous heritage places in South Australia. The aim is to make the database publicly accessible and easily understandable so that members of the public, as well as Indigenous communities, can more easily access this information.

The study area for the project is the coastline from Adelaide’s CBD to the Western Australia-South Australia border, with a 50km inclusion zone of inland sites.

Figure 1 – Study area of project (source: Google Maps)

The project is basically split into three components: the database of known/published sites in the area; a map of site locations; and finally an analysis of the archaeology in the area, which will form the basis for my report at the end of the project.

When I first started conducting research on archaeology in this large area, I was turning up very few results, leading me to believe that there were either no known sites across this massive area, or more probably, that none had been made publicly accessible. It turns out that it was more of the latter, with some more in-depth research leading me to a handful of site surveys of the Yorke Peninsula, Lower Eyre Peninsula, the Eyre Peninsula as a whole and the Nullarbor Plain. After reading these surveys I am now aware of around 300 known sites in the study area!

The variety of sites present in the area includes fish traps, artefact scatters, middens, rockshelters, rockholes, a former Mission site, burials and stone artefact quarries.

By my next post I aim to have a completed database so I can start to piece together a detailed record of archaeology in the area and begin making a map of these to see if there are any emerging patterns in site locations.

This semester as apart of my directed study I have been working with Cameron Hartnell, who has been working at the site of Para Wirra, more particularly the Lady Alice Mine. Cameron has been looking at the site in question to understand 19^th century settlements. The site of Para Wirra is located to the north of Adelaide, around half an hour from the city, and was a site predominantly used for mining but now serves as a National Park. James Goddard originally founded the site in 1870; after prospecting and developing the site he found gold.  So enough of the very short history of the site, the very first time I went out to the site it was a wondrous 38 degrees and not only was I out there to see the site, but I helped Cameron finish off a survey of the site. From the site survey, I not only learnt the vastness of the site but it also gave me the opportunity to see the different aspects of the site.  There were building remains as well as a mine that was surrounded with ceramic, glass and modern day plastics. This showed a timeline of life in one space.

As we walked along our transect, I was faced with not only a ginormous kangaroo but also with a large abundance of mine shafts. Cameron also pointed out on numerous occasions old roads that wind their way around the park. Walking through the dense scrub we came across a mine that wasn’t completely closed, surrounding it was a litter of ceramics and glass. It is amazing what can be found by simply taking a walk in a park. I can’t wait to look into this site further.

For my Directed Studies project I will be working with the National Trust of South Australia to complete an interpretive study of Collingrove Homestead. Collingrove Homestead is located in Angaston, in the Barossa Valley, South Australia, and was home to the Angas family – a prominent family in South Australia’s history. In 2007, the house was bequeathed to the National Trust of South Australia. Today, Collingrove Homestead functions as a bed and breakfast luxury accommodation facility.

The aim of this study is to analyse the rooms and artefact collections of Collingrove Homestead, to produce an interpretive plan that the National Trust of South Australia can use to develop self-guided tour programs. Through this analysis, I hope to identify potential themes, sub themes and other related messages from the features and artefacts, to develop a story of the Angas family during their time at Collingrove.

To develop an effective interpretive plan, this study will assess other well-known South Australian historic houses, to benchmark examples of good and bad interpretive practices.

I am really enjoying this project. Researching the house and its contents has been very interesting and I hope that this interpretive plan will help create a story that engages the South Australian community and communicates the life and times of the Angas family in a unique way.

Collingrove Homestead. Courtesy of the National Trust of South Australia.