Pacific coastwatchers finally recognised for World War II heroism

They were the eyes and ears of the allied forces during the Pacific campaign in World War II, but for decades, civilian Pacific Islands coastwatchers did not receive the same recognition as their New Zealand counterparts.

But now New Zealand’s Governor-General Dame Cindy Kiro has presented families of over 25 Pacific Islands coastwatchers – along with five Post and Telegraph Department coastwatchers – with certificates to honour the sacrifice of their relations’ service.

The long-awaited ceremony in recognition of dozens of war-heroes took place at Government House in Wellington on Tuesday.

Pacific Coastwatcher Pu Banaba

Pu Banaba was a Pacific Coastwatcher who used Morse code as radio operator on the island of Suwarrow.

He followed in the footsteps of his father – Sergeant Beni Banaba – who fought in World War I.

Pu Banaba’s descendant, Tarani Drollet, said it was a fight for Pacific families to get the recognition.

“Without family digging into this, to the army, this would not happen.

“We the family are happy that we are here to remember them, and we are happy they have been recognised.”

Conditions in the isolated islands were, at times, hard to endure. During a violent hurricane, Pu Banaba and other coastwatchers on the island of Suwarrow had to tie themselves to trees so they wouldn’t be blown away by the powerful storm and a tidal wave which swept over the island.

After the Second World War, Pu Banaba spent the rest of his life in Rarotonga, where his family had a plantation in Marairenga village.

Pu’s plaque was the first coastwatcher’s to be unveiled in NZ last year for father Beni’s 106th anniversary and the two share a burial plot in Auckland.

Service runs in the family, as Papa Pu Banaba’s other niece Arii Urirau is also a Queens Honours recipient for service to the Cook Islands community. She wore her relative’s medals with pride.

“We have achieved our goal. Not for us but for our descendants.”

A historical report prepared by defence historian John Crawford concluded about 50 to 60 civilian coastwatchers and another 50 civilians elsewhere in the Pacific did not receive formal recognition of their service.

Crawford said: “The only sad thing of course is that it is too late for the men themselves, which is a bit grim but that is the way it went.

“To actually work on a project which makes a difference and puts a right to some degree – an oversight from many years ago – is pretty special to me. And it is so heart-warming to see the families; they are really quite excited about it.”

Full circle

A man’s search to find out more about his grandfather led to this moment.

In 2018, Will Cuthers was researching his grandfather – William Kiri Cuthers – who was posted aged 16 to a remote outer island in the Cook Islands – Mitiaro – in 1942.

Cuthers would eventually discover that his grandfather was one of dozens of young men – many of them still teenagers – who were trained to work as coastwatchers. They were one of the first lines of defence for New Zealand during WWII.

Cuthers wrote letters to the NZ Defence Force and to the New Zealand Prime Minister at the time about his discovery which led to more Pacific Coast Watchers being uncovered.

“I feel really happy. It’s been so long, over 80 years since the war, but it was really special for my family and other families.”

Cuthers choked up talking about the emotion in the room during the ceremony as he described what it meant for families to be able to “cherish” their war-hero relatives.

He hoped the Pacific coastwatchers’ legacy would be fondly remembered as part of New Zealand’s effort.

“That’s what I set out to do – ensuring they weren’t marginalised and that people knew we contributed to the efforts back then in the 1940s.”

For more on Pacific coastwatchers – documentary and podcast: https://www.rnz.co.nz/programmes/coastwatchers