James Gwero
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The Stories of World War Two
James Gwero
He [Lamont Lindstrom] told me I should speak a little. I wanted to tell him that IThe Stories of World War Two
James Gwero
wanted to go home, but since they told me I had to talk a little about World War
Two, here I am. The stories of World War Two are just like kastom stories, just
like the place on Ambae that has the big-man Tagaro, who is right now setting
the volcano on fire. That’s what they are. The stories of World War Two are now
60 years old, and in just the same way that you can see all the things that Tagaro
made on Ambae, you can also see how the Americas made roads around Efate or
Santo. But if man America had not come, and if there was no World War Two,
these roads would not be here either. World War Two was both not good, and
good. This is what I found through my research. It was good in that, if it had not
have happened, we still would have achieved independence—Vanuatu would
be independent now—but it would have been very hard to make roads around
Efate or Santo.
I would like to say now that it would be good to make two more books out of
this research [Big Wok], one in vernacular language, and in English and French,
to make everyone understand the history well. This story should be ‘once and
for all’, and it can’t happen again. Just like when I went to America, the place of
these people, and I saw notices that said that they will never make war like that
again, because they lost too many lives. This means that this place and this time
is important for everyone to know about. Now I'll sing a song which they made
up about World War Two. I am glad to say that they made up lots of songs and
dances about World War Two in language. We call the custom dances Naboe,
the songs about World War Two.
Now—and I’ll sing it when I’ve finished—there is something good about the
sound of the Noisy Boys String Band when they sing about ‘one thousand man
Tanna’. The music is good, particularly one phrase in the second verse that says,
‘America rose to its full power’. People repeat this song and think the lyrics
good because America did rise up to their full power and come. They came
to repel the Japanese, and so I am impressed with those who composed this
song. They came with all the equipment for fighting, and all the equipment for
building the towns of Santo and Vila. They came with their full power because,
as some people, such as one man from Paama, said, Japan said that they would
win Santo, and after that, make Port Vila suffer. How did they know? How
did he say this? Yes, its true, this was the time of fighting, and we were scared
that Japan would come into the bush and kill us. Now, let me speak. I’m sorry
if I ramble and stray from the topic. This was a frightening time. When the
Japanese fought they were cruel, they killed people indiscriminately, including
women, in the Solomons.
There is a man, who you may or may not have heard of, called Addison. If you go
to the airport in the Solomons you will see a memorial stone outside which says,
‘He gave his life for Guadalcanal’. Do you know the story of this man, or not?
This man, Addison, gave his life, and after he died America came to fight for the
Solomons. America could not overpower its enemy, and the two sides fought
on a beach they called ‘A Red Fish’, because of the blood of both sides that was
spilled on it. I’ve been to this place and I’ve seen it. After, this man Addison
thought he would die, but some miracles happened. He flew high in his plane
with many bombs, but the Japanese remained in a place where the bombs could
not reach them. And so the Japanese started to build an airstrip there, now
called Addison Field, which they did not complete. And the Americans wanted
to remove them because if they were able to land planes there they would
then be able to come and kill the people of Vanuatu. OK. When the Americans
wanted to advance with their infantry, this man went up in his plane with all
its bombs and dropped them straight on the Japanese guns and he was killed.
There were great explosions, the Japanese were killed, and the Americans were
able to advance. That is the story of Addison, of whom they say, ‘He gave his life
for Guadalcanal’. He gave his life for the cause of all the people of Guadalcanal,
and for the Americans too.
But now I’ve gone too far, to the first fight that came to the Solomons. Just as this
man [Lamont] said, Japan made its base in the Solomons to fight the Americans,
but did not make it to America. The two only fought in the Solomons. So the
fight was both good and not good, and as Solomon Islanders say, it was not the
place for either side to fight in. Their places were far away and they didn’t fight
there, but Japan came and called for America to come.
Do you know why America joined the war? Because the Japanese bombed the
USS Arizona, a war ship in Hawai’i. After this America declared war. OK, you
know, I think on 7 December 1942. I went to see this place—and I’m rambling
now—but I do think that everyone should know this memory, and of the
memorial at Pearl Harbour. You don’t all know this history, and how can I make
it clear so that everyone understands? And now I say to you, there are plenty
of people who are calling for me, such as the French school here in Port Vila, to
talk about this thing called World War Two. And so I can talk for a long time.
There are many, many cassettes on which we recorded people. We worked six
months on this. Rented a truck for three days here, and rented a truck on Santo
for six months. Then, after, we went to Hawai’i. You know, I liked it when I
went to Hawai’i, and I went twice. Twice we two went, but I still talk about
World War Two. I think I’ll become an American because I’m always talking
about Americans!
But last time—sorry, but I’m about to say something no good—at the French
Embassy here in town, I came across a group of Japanese who were showing
some things that Americans threw away. I looked, and I was surprised. One was
a woman who spoke Bislama. I said, yes, I work on this, but I can’t talk about
it. OK, she said that they would make a workshop from 16 to 21 October in
town, and she pulled me inside and I saw on the TV the atomic bomb. Did you
know that in 1945 America dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima? Seventy
thousand people died. In Nagasaki, on the ninth, it was two hundred and fifty
thousand. So I said this was no good, and now I know. But I told this person,
‘But who was wrong?’ It was wrong of the boss of the Japanese, but America
stopped the war in your place, and if they had not dropped any bombs we
wouldn’t be here now.
So sorry, I just found out, and I sat down with her for a short while and I looked
at the video. But it’s not good for children to see this kind of thing. Sorry to say
this—I only just saw. I’m surprised at America. I reckon that they’ve stopped
the man who made this bomb from making any again, because it’s a rubbish one.
If they dropped it on Vanuatu, everyone would perish. So I’ve talked for too
long with all these stories, and now I’ll sing a song. I’ve already sung this song
on TV, but I forgot a line. So it would be good if they record it again now. The
song of the Americans should be the American National Anthem.
The Americans did not call workers ‘boys’ at this time. When men worked with
them, they were just their friends. One thing that has changed the people of
Vanuatu, and that the French and English will never do; all the ni-Vanuatu went
to eat on the same table as the Americans. The Americans did it, because—when
one took out a packet of cigarettes and opened them, he would give one to
everyone. And after he would light it, just like a picture, you would see him
lighting and the ni-Vanuatu taking one too. I was always a houseboy. When I
was at school I was a houseboy for an English man, and if there was any food
leftovers he would tell me to eat it, and if not he would throw it to the dogs. He
would never invite people to eat with him, as the Americans would. And they
made this kind of life change in Vanuatu.
But sorry, these stories are long. I will sing the song of America. ‘Boys’, they
never called them ‘boys’. And it’s better as ‘friend’, because before we said
‘master’, naturally, and words like this. No, with Americans, when you said
‘boy’, they didn’t like it. And so here is the song. They sang it when they drove
trucks and worked.
Okay, this is the last one. There are many that I like, but I will sing only this
one. This is a song a man composed about Vila when they came. But the man
composed it in three languages; Paama, Ambae and English. You know, at this
time women were afraid of the Americans, and so at the end of this story there
is a part which is not good, and I won’t explain. I will just say that women were
afraid of Americans, but they wore the trousers of all of their men. I’ll make
it short, but after it changes. But now I see that women wear trousers that are
different. And that is not at all kastom.
Okay, this man composed the song when they came. So he is talking about life
at this time, and after that he is talking about the Americans. When they came,
they came to the BP Wharf, which is now buried. The passage for the wharf is
beside the government building in town. Some women were singing around a
fire to get warm, but after that they saw the Americans coming ashore, then
sleep, then change into wearing shoes.
Okay, thank you.
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