Interview with Ruben Lamasisi (Interview)
(Indigenous perspective)
This interview was conducted by Dr Iwamoto Hiromitsu and transcribed/translated by Pastor Jacob Aramans

Ruben: My name is Ruben Lamasisi. I come from Sali village in the New Ireland Province. During the war we were given certain tasks. The boss told us that we were to make oil out of coconut. This was all we did till one time they asked if any of us knew how to fish. I was selected and so I used goggles and a fishing gun to dive. I would spend some hours at sea and go to the camp with whatever I caught. Diving and fishing became my work for some time. One time while I was diving a Japanese man was waiting for me on the beach and the enemies shot him. He was badly injured and so I took him to the aid post. I returned and kept diving till evening then I went to the camp with many fish. After some years of notorious fighting they brought us some articles which stated that the war has ended. Dr Iwamoto: Papa tell me something about Sakamoto. Ruben: Sakamoto was a commanding officer (General) in the army. He normally walked around with his long sword by his side. He was in charge of a platoon and many of the soldiers served under him. Dr Iwamoto: What was the name of this platoon? Ruben: This platoon was called Lemetai. Sakamoto was in charge of this group. When the war was over they took every thing they used to fight with and destroyed them. They even dumped some into the sea. After that they got into their trucks and went to Namatanai. Dr Iwamoto: Did any other man from your village go fishing like you? Ruben: Other men from my village also went fishing but they caught fish for their own consumption. As for me I gave my catch to the Japanese. This was because earlier on when they asked who would fish for them other men from my village chose me because I am good at it. We normally went fishing in the sea when there were no war planes flying over. Dr Iwamoto: Did you give all your catch to the Japanese or did you keep some? Ruben: I gave every thing to the Japanese. They did not give us anything in return like money. If it was today maybe they might give us something in return. It was war time so we gave them everything. Dr Iwamoto: You boiled coconut cream and made oil. Did everything go to the Japanese? Ruben: This oil went to Sakamoto's company. The oil was used to fry kaukau, sago and other food items. Dr Iwamoto: Did the men in your village get involved in other activities like gardening etc. or was it only you fishing and making oil? Ruben: We also made gardens, planting kaukau, beans and other greens. Dr Iwamoto: Did women work with you? Ruben: No, there were no women working with men in such works. One time a plane came and dropped an Australian paratrooper. When we saw him, we all went to the beach and watched him coming down slowly from the air. He landed on the beach. We knew the Japanese must have seen him. We took him and hid him in the bush. But instead this paratrooper walked in the open along the beach. He was met by a Japanese and a Manus man. His name was Buke. This Manus man was a feared man. He had the mentality of beheading people or his enemies. The Japanese who camped at Sali (on the hill top) had already seen what happened with binoculars. In the morning they came and asked us about what had happened last night and whether we had sighted anything. When the two men met the paratrooper they fastened his hand to his back and brought him to their camp and beheaded him straight away. If he had listened to us and hid in the bushes he would have survived. Dr Iwamoto: Did some of those Australians live with you in your village when the war ended? Ruben: No, they went back. There were two Australian soldiers, one tall and the other short, living at Nongosa. That is another village further down from my village. One afternoon they came to Limbru and then to Putput and came across here. A man from my village by the name of Nongos worked as a spy for the Australians during the war. When the war was about to end they told him that after the war they would come back and see him or otherwise they would call him to go and see them because he helped them during the war. However, no news came back so we believed they must have been killed or died some where. Dr Iwamoto: Did your people kill them or they did they die somehow? Ruben: They probably died some how. There is no news about them.