To honour those who served their country

“In this their finest hour”

Gunners 600 Party

Plaque donated by the Royal Artillery laid next to the air strip on Ballale Island

Information Compiled from

 The ‘Java Index’, ‘What Price Bushido’,

Kill the Prisoners’, the Commonwealth War Graves and KEW

When compiling the Java Index it was noted that many of the British prisoners captured in Java, died at Rabaul and Ballale Island. Alf  ‘Blackie’ Baker’s book ‘What Price Bushido’ and Don Wall’s ‘Kill the Prisoners’ confirmed this. Using these valuable sources of information these pages were formed with the help of the Commonwealth War Graves. The Bomana War Cemetery list was compiled by John Winterbotham from information supplied by DVA Canberra.

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Background Music

The Naked Isle is written and sung by Jim Rowlands in remembrance of his grandfather Albert Owen Rowlands from the Gunners 600 Party. The Japanese reported that the ship carrying the prisoners was lost at sea after leaving Singapore, which is known as the Naked Isle.

It wasn’t till after the war the truth was found when a large mass grave was found on Ballale Island, the Japanese had used 517 of the fittest to construct a runway on Ballale Island leaving the sick at Rabaul, then when finished those of the 517 remaining left alive were massacred by the Japanese,

436 bodies were exhumed on Ballale Island, those remaining of the 517 are believed to have died before the massacre and buried on the island.

The date of death given by the Commonwealth War Graves is the 5th March 1943 for those who died on Ballale Island, the correct date is not known.

Acknowledgements

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission

‘What Price Bushido’ by Alf ‘Blackie’ Baker

‘Kill the Prisoners’ by Don Wall

‘The Knights of Bushido’ by Lord Russell of Liverpool

Britain at War

Original design by John Weedon
Maintained by Ron Taylor.

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Site Management

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Ron.Taylor@fepow-community.org.uk

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