Relic hunting in the Solomons
25 Mar 2019
The vast South Pacific is now an idyllic holiday destination for people of all ages, but just one generation ago, it was the scene of massive military activity.
Apart from picture-perfect, palm-lined beaches, there exist many locations in the Solomon Islands that still carry deep scars from intense battles – and none more so than Guadalcanal.
My most recent visit to the Solomons was the third in eight years, and each time there have been new and exciting finds. This time it was an overlooked P-39 Airacobra and a Stuart tank on remote Arundel Island in New Georgia.
The P-39, not yet positively identified, crashed very close to the tiny village of Nazareti on the southern coast. Locals, machetes flying, took me on-trail through rough jungle and cassava fields to the site. My villager guides are all relatives of the chief they claim was the one who rescued the pilot after he bailed out.
The tank is easier to explain. It was knocked out during a US attack on Japanese positions on the northern coast in September 1943. Apparently the crew escaped, but the tank has been abandoned here ever since, still with all guns in place.
My guide, Tusker, from nearby Munda (where the Japanese built the current airfield, but quickly lost it to US forces) also shows me five 140mm naval guns installed nearby.
Another local, Barney Paulsen, shows me his own collection neatly arrayed in his front yard. Shell casings, medicine bottles, an aircraft engine and helmets are mixed in with piles of sundry debris including hand grenades.
Barney pulls out his special box from which he produces the corroded remains of a Thompson sub-machine gun, magazine still in place.
“The police tell me I can keep it as long as I don’t try and fix it up,” says Barney, cradling the inert weapon like a Chicago mobster.
A History buff’S heaven
The town is alive with all sorts of stories about who dumped what where and who made off with the leftovers. An American dump site is the source of most loot, but battlefield relics also turn up. There are personal items like watches, badges and even dog tags – the well-known “necklaces” worn by all US service personnel that identifies them... just in case.
The well-known and sad truth is that shortly after the war, scrap metal salvagers combed the entire Pacific theatre picking up pretty much everything of value including entire aircraft, trucks, tanks, guns and anything metal.
Famous tales like the massive dumping exercise at Vanuatu’s so-called “Million Dollar Point” morphed into legend. Much the same happened at sites in the Solomons, including Munda. Consequently, the items left to explore are those ignored, missed or overlooked by the salvagers.
Modern relic hunters from the local Dive Munda resort continue to find missing aircraft in the water like a Japanese “Nell” bomber, another Airacobra and an F4F Wildcat with the remains of its US pilot still inside. Meanwhile, a search for an Avenger dive bomber continues.
The search and research continues, made considerably easier in recent times by the wealth of information now available on the web. Any remains found are always reported to authorities and properly attended to.
Lest we forget.
Key facts
- Coastline: 5,313 km
- Population: 660,121 (July 2018 est.)
- Pop. Honiara: 82,000
- The UK established a protectorate over the Solomon Islands in the 1890s
Fact file
Numerous locations with artillery, armoured vehicles and aircraft near the capital, Honiara, can be viewed in a day with a local guide. A huge US memorial overlooks the town from a ridge that was the site of numerous battles.
For information on travel to and around Solomon Islands, visit visitsolomons.com.sb
Big and small screen:
Movie: Thin Red Line, 1998 and 1964
HBO: The Pacific, 2010; Eps 1 and 2
Movie: ‘Guadalcanal Diary’ 1943
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