The savage fighting against the Japanese along the Kokoda Track during WW11 has become increasingly etched into the nation’s psyche. Former PM Paul Keating kissed the ground at Kokoda in 1992 as part of the Anzac Day ceremonies and said that if the nation was founded at Gallipoli , then its “depth and soul” had been confirmed in its defence at Kokoda. In that conflict Australians had fought not for the “mother country” but to secure Australia and an Australian way of life. They had turned back the invaders intent on taking Port Moresby .
A Darwin resident, Gary Mills, 68, of Millner , believes a book which gives a grim account of the Japanese side of the Kokoda battle should be read by all senior high school pupils . Written by Australian journalist, Charles Happell, it is THE BONE MAN OF KOKODA ,Pan Macmillan ,2008, 272pp,illustrated, maps , acclaimed by the Australian Defence Magazine as an incredible story of fortitude and determination. It tells the story of former soldier Kokichi Nishimura, a private in the 144th Regiment , who fought at Guam, and in New Guinea at Salamaua and along the Kokoda Track . The Japanese troops, decimated, suffering from a range of illnesses , running out of supplies, resorted to cannibalism . Nishimura vowed that, if he survived , he would return and take his comrades bones back to Japan.
One of a small number of men evacuated , he made it to Japan, surviving the sinking of a transport by American submarines , was posted to Burma at the end of 1943 and lay enfeebled in a military hospital suffering from malaria at war’s end. After the war , Nishimura built up a thriving business and in 1979 suddenly announced , much to the surprise of his family, that he was going back to New Guinea to search for the remains of his fallen comrades.
During the next 25 years he toured overgrown battle sites , aided by a metal detector and probes, and recovered a large amount of bones and wartime relics . He also tried to atone for what the Japanese had done to the locals by helping start commercial ventures, even personally buying and sailing fishing boats from Japan to New Guinea.
One of his many finds was a skull with four gold teeth which enabled identification of a lance-corporal , which resulted in a sad event in Japan . The book details how Nishimura , carrying the skull in his car, sleeping rough, drove about Japan trying to track down the relatives of the soldier. The family of the dead man had not wanted to take possession of the skull because , as a young , wild man , he had been dishonourable and had sold off family heirlooms.
Having read many war books, Gary Mills , with a deep interest in Japan, was mightily impressed when he read about Nishimura's mission in THE BONE MAN OF KOKODA book . When he and his wife were visiting friends in Japan, they went to the Shobara City Cemetery and were shown about by the president of the Association of War-Bereaved Families, Masaaki Izawa. Gary was photographed next to the shrine , above, his copy of the book open at the page with photographs of Nishimura holding the skull and the goddess flanked by Nishimura’s daughter,Sachiko, and Izawa. He was shown the skull and the lance-corporal's name was visible on the statue's pedestal.
Mills attempted to contact Nishimura , who lived in a specially constructed perspex hut on the roof of his daughter’s home , Tokyo , so that , according to the book, he could sleep under the stars on a sheepskin rug and pretend he was back in New Guinea. Mills liked reading that Nishimura had built his hut without the required permit and during his unusual, demanding mission had often come up against official opposition both in Japan and Papua New Guinea , winning out against great odds.
FOOTNOTE : A Japanese adventurer who was riding a pushbike around the world inspired Gary Mills to ride a bike , carrying 130 pounds of gear , from Perth to Darwin, a distance of 2670 miles , in 1969 . The Japanese cyclist gave up his marathon ride about Port Hedland , apparently because the roads were too rough . Gary, 25, thought this was a real challenge , so set out for Darwin, more than half the roads unsealed at the time. He carried his own food, water and a shotgun. Pictured above at Hall’s Creek, his hand is resting on the shotgun, a tube of Maclean’s toothpaste part of his kit. Because he had to be careful with water, the toothpaste did not get much use along the dusty trail. "Boy Scout tablets " he carried to purify water were not effective when he used them in a container filled from a slimy green pool with bird tracks at the edge.
A daughter , Dee, studied Japanese and at the age of 13 went to Japan with a school group from Perth ; later she returned to Japan to work . On a visit to Japan , Mr and Mrs Mills stayed with a Japanese bank manager and Gary , an experienced concrete batch plant operator , sealed his hosts’ driveway. During their visits to Japan , Gary watched with interest the development of the Kure Maritime Museum , which includes a one- tenth scale model of the world’s biggest battleship, Yamato. - (By Peter Simon).
