Wartime History The Japanese Navy 18th Construction Battalion arrived on the island on November 3, 1942 to begin building an airstrip with a contingent of 370 people, augmented later by 517 British POWs and local laborers. Ballale Airfield (Ballale, Ballalai) Spans the length of the island, built by the Japanese, netralized from the air. The island was bypassed by the Allies. After the war, the Australian Army 7th Infantry Battalion, including Lt. General V. A. H. Sturdee (1st Army) and Brigadier A.W. Potts (23 Infantry Brigade) toured the island on November 10, 1945. Australians immediately located the grave of 57 POWs buried in shallow trenches. An atrocities commission was carried out on the island, that led to the discovery of a mass grave of 436 bodies were exhumed with artifacts identifying them as British artillerymen. The remains were re-interred in individual graves at Bomama War Cemetery near Port Moresby. The remainder of the 517 British POWs have never been found. British POW Graves Also, it contains the 436 British POWs that died on Ballale Island, working as slave labor for the Japanese, their graves are listed as 'Known Unto God" and a memorial plaque is located at the rear of the cemetery. Ballalae (Ballale, Ballalai)
We forget that it seems to be wherever there were Japanese soldiers there were atrocities, whether POWs or on the natives.
AWM Collection Record: RELAWM20349.001 - Wallet and crucifix from Allied soldiers' mass grave : Ballale Island
