Burma Star Association - B.C. Chapter
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Michael Williams Cawnpore, India in 1945 |
Reception-Westminster Hall, Palace of Westminster, |
Entrance to National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific
Both the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific and the Honolulu Memorial, covering 116 acres, are located in Puowaina Crater, an extinct volcano referred to in Hawaii as "Punchbowl" because of its shape. Puowaina means Consecrated Hill, or Hill of Sacrifice, and in ancient times was the site of many secret royal burials. It was also the place where offenders of certain Polynesian taboos were sacrificed.
Whenever I am in Honolulu, I visit the Punchbowl to pay my respects to the 1st Air Commando airmen and the Merrill Marauder soldiers resting there. I had first met them in the military hospital where I was flown on the last C-47 out of 111 Brigade's "Blackpool" block in May 1944, after I was wounded.
The cemetery is one of two hallowed American resting places in the vast Pacific for the recovered remains of World War Two dead whose next of kin did not request return of the remains to the continental United States or requested that they be buried here. They came from such battle sites as China, Burma, the islands of Guadalcanal; Guam; Iwo Jima; Okinawa; Saipan; Wake Island and from prisoner of war camps in Burma and Japan. Burma was part of the United States CBI --China-Burma-India Theatre--in which the 14th Air Force, USAAF; 1st Air Commando - USAAF (Chindits and 14th Army air support); and "Merrill's Marauders" (USA Army) who fought alongside the Chindits in the 1944 Burma campaign.
Punchbowl is now filled to capacity with 33,230 gravesites including those of Merrill's Marauders, 1st Air Commando USAAF, as well as 133 US military personnel captured by the Japanese in March 1942 who died working on the Siam - Burma Death Railway.
View from Court of Honor looking towards entrance
Of particular significance is the Court of Honor that sits high on the wall of the crater overlooking the graves area and which includes the non-sectarian chapel and two map galleries that extend laterally from each side of the central tower housing the chapel. On the front of the tower is a 30-foot high female figure known as 'Columbia' standing on the symbolized prow of a US Navy aircraft carrier with a laurel branch in her left hand.
Central tower with statute of 'Columbia'
The map galleries contain fifteen, ten-foot high colored maps showing maps and texts recording the Armed Forces achievements in the areas of the war shown in my second paragraph. For me there are two special maps: Operations in the Pacific 1942-1945 and Victory in the Pacific.
Included in the text on the left hand side:
in 1 is "...the Japanese struck at American, British,
Chinese and Dutch territories".
In 2 is "...supplies flown from India over the Himalayas
aided the Chinese effort against the invaders".
In 4 on the right hand side is"...In Burma allied forces
fought to reopen the overland supply route to China and stimulate her efforts
to eject the Japanese".
The text in 3 on the right hand side starts with "In Burma, allied forces over-ran the Japanese, while in China, under the stimulus of air and ground borne supply from the west, the enemy's grasp was broken". Further, under 'Legend' on the left hand side can be seen a blue arrow depicting "British Commonwealth Forces", mainly in Burma but also Borneo (and further down under aircraft symbols) Royal Air Force heavy/medium bombers and fighters.
M E Williams (Captain - Ret ,d - 2KORR)