February 25, 2020 • 35 mins
The airmen win a reprieve when the Japanese patrol surging along the beach is inexplicably delayed. With the party’s transceiver batteries flat and six airmen barely able to stand, the remaining Australians have one chance to escape. Shortly after re-establishing with the USS Searaven, a new threat emerges. A storm is coming.
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(00:09):
The date is April 17, 1942.
The RAF Rear Party, under the command of
my grandfather, Flight Lieutenant Brian Rofe, has been
trapped behind lines for 57 days.
The members of the party are strewn across
a beach on the northwest coast of Dutch
Timor, near the village of Toor Kowl.
Shortly after making contact with an American submarine,
(00:31):
the USS Sea Raven, lights from two Japanese
patrols can be seen converging on the party's
position from different ends of the beach.
Both patrols are expected to arrive at Toor
Kowl sometime the following day.
A decision is made to evacuate half the
party, an endeavour that will require 16 malaria
-stricken airmen to swim through a large surf
(00:52):
in the dead of night to a wooden
wherry sitting out beyond the waves.
Brian selects the fittest men to make the
swim, and remains on the beach with men
so sick most can barely stand.
The last man he selects to swim through
the surf that night is leading aircraftman Len
Burke.
So I was the last one picked on
the first night, the rest were to look
(01:14):
for dooms.
I'm Tom Trumbull, and this is Trapped.
Men and women of Australia, the story of
one of the greatest escapes of the Pacific
War.
The Japanese naval and air forces launched an
(01:35):
unprovoked attack, a state of war exists between
Australia and Japan.
Chapter 6 The Longest Day Mid
-afternoon on April the 18th, 1942 on the
(01:57):
beach at Toor Kowl.
The chief of the village tells Brian that
the Japanese patrol coming from the southern end
of the beach will arrive before nightfall, a
few hours away.
The chief recommends hiding in the hills.
Brian shakes his head.
Two of his men are delirious and one
is a breathing skeleton.
Hiking back into the hills will kill them.
(02:19):
Another week on Timor and eight will be
dead.
Besides, they no longer had a radio to
contact Darwin and arrange another rescue.
Tonight they escape, or they die.
The chief gives Brian two turtle eggs and
then takes his people into the jungle.
For the rest of the day, Brian, his
good friend, Hudson pilot, Flight Lieutenant Harold Cookie
(02:42):
Cook and Cookie's co-pilot, Pilot Officer Vivian
Leathead, keep watch.
The other men are strewn out under the
jungle canopy, hidden from the view of enemy
reconnaissance aircraft.
Shortly before dusk, Brian lights a fire to
boil the turtle eggs and some rice.
He offers the three sickest men the eggs,
(03:03):
but they've all gone off their food.
Brian checks the condition of the others and
concludes that leading aircraftman Clyde Pappin looks in
the worst shape.
Brian said, I'm going to get you a
couple of eggs.
I said, you?
Where are you going to get a couple
of eggs?
He said, turtle eggs.
And you know, he gave me two eggs
(03:26):
and they were delicious.
And immediately I felt better.
Just wanted to nourish them.
He wouldn't leave us.
He stayed behind.
He didn't have to, but he did.
He got everyone on board before him.
(03:48):
He was a good leader, I had no
doubt about that.
After dinner, Brian douses the fire.
With Cookie and Leathead's help, he digs a
large hole.
They throw in clothing, boots, empty knapsacks, firearms
and kerosene tins before covering it all up.
Brian doesn't want to leave anything at all
(04:08):
to the enemy.
Aside from the tattered clothes in which he
stood, Brian retains a cigarette case.
He opens up the case and slips inside
a letter demanding his surrender, sent from the
Japanese and handed to him the previous day
by a Timorese courier.
The only thing left is the bag of
money.
(04:28):
Flying officer Arthur Cole took 3,000 guilders
out to the submarine the night before.
Brian calculates he has about 800 guilders worth
of coins.
He'd intended on giving the money to George,
his Timorese guide from Capsali.
But George's disappearance the night before had put
paid to those plans.
Brian leaves the money bag at the base
of a tree.
(04:49):
If the chief of Tuakau or one of
these people return, he'll give it to them.
Otherwise, Brian will hurl it into the sea
before they go.
At sunset, those that are strong enough stand
up and cautiously walk out onto the beach.
Every eye looks south, to where torchlights of
(05:10):
the patrol had been seen the night before.
All they could see was the light blinking
from the cape, at least 16 kilometres away.
Cookie hushes their cheers, fearful that unfriendly ears
further inland would hear their celebrations.
But Brian says nothing.
He looks out to sea beyond the large
surf.
(05:31):
He sees something that only a man trained
in meteorology would spot, something unsettling.
There are no stars on the horizon.
That night, Lieutenant Commander Hiram Cassidy, captain of
the USS Sea Raven, decides to add a
crewman to the wherry.
(05:52):
A hefty chief machinist mate, Chief Petty Officer
John Lorenz, would join Ensign George Cook, Petty
Officer Swede Markison and Petty Officer Joe McGreavy.
Lorenz will stay in the boat while the
other three swim to the beach.
At seven o'clock, two hours before rendezvous,
Sea Raven surfaces.
(06:12):
Surfaced an observed air raid on Copang.
This one seemed to be about twice the
size of last night's raid.
Cassidy sees something else.
Japanese torches blinking near the two mountain peaks
towards the interior.
The Japanese are now converging on Tuakau from
a third point.
But the patrol in the south is in
(06:32):
more or less the same position as the
previous night.
Something or someone has stalled the Japanese.
A storm approaches.
It's anyone's guess as to when it will
arrive.
At nine o'clock, Cassidy trains his binoculars
towards the beach.
The thirty second torch signal is seen.
(06:55):
Cassidy tells his signalman on the blinker gun
to flash SR SR in acknowledgement and then
orders the launching of the wherry.
Five hundred metres off the coast, the swell
begins to noticeably rise and fall.
It's bigger than the previous night.
Ensign Cook's eyes are focused shoreward.
He can see the lights in the jungle
(07:17):
drawing closer to the rendezvous point.
To Cook, it looks like they are within
a few kilometres of the beach.
Once the boat's in position, the anchor is
lowered.
McGreevy and Cook flash their torches towards the
beach and immediately receive the signal.
McGreevy, Markison and Cook all dive into the
heaving sea.
Lorenz watches on as the long lines run
(07:38):
out over the gunwale.
The waves are huge, at least fifteen feet.
The three men are all swallowed up in
the surf.
Violently turned and twisted, the Americans are dumped
on the beach, shocked at the power of
the surf.
Panting and exhausted, they look back.
The peaks of the waves hide the wherry
(08:00):
from view.
Markison leads them to the airmen.
Cook and McGreevy each trail a long line
with five life jackets attached.
Thank you for coming back, Ensign Cook.
We owe you.
Couldn't have missed it for the world.
Joe McGreevy is appalled at the sight of
the half-dead men huddled together on the
beach.
They were a miserable looking group, in much
(08:22):
poorer shape than the first group.
A lightning strike illuminates the beach.
Ensign Cook pulls out three rolls of bandages
from a pouch attached to his waist and
hands one each to McGreevy and Markison.
The three sickest men are lifted out of
the stretches.
They each have their wrists tied together with
(08:42):
a bandage.
Their bound arms are then looped around the
neck of one of the submariners.
McGreevy carries 21-year-old aircraftman Phil Keen.
They wade in.
Waist deep, McGreevy sees a large wave approaching.
The bandages bite into McGreevy's neck as he
fights his way through the breakers.
(09:04):
Once they enter deeper water, the bandages start
to cut off McGreevy's air supply.
Wheezing and turning red, McGreevy ducks under the
last wave, hauling himself along the line towards
the wherry.
Lorenz reaches over and pulls Phil off McGreevy's
shoulders and lays him down in the bilge
area.
With deep red marks across his throat, McGreevy
(09:24):
hauls himself aboard.
Markison and Cook arrive, struggling to keep the
barely conscious Australians from dragging them under.
Eventually, they make it to the wherry.
All three rescuers crumple on the bottom of
the boat alongside their distressed passengers and suck
in lungfuls of air.
Lorenz stands over them at the stern of
(09:46):
the boat.
The worst of it is over.
With Cookie and Brian's help, the remaining airmen
can now be taken out in one go.
The three Americans are preparing to return to
the beach when the storm arrives.
A wind gust pushes the wherry into the
surf.
The anchor digs into the sand, bringing the
wherry broadside to the waves.
(10:07):
Cook and McGreevy grab an oar and begin
back-paddling, but the wind is too strong.
The anchor slips.
Water pours over the gunwales, drenching the three
barely conscious Australians.
Cook and McGreevy desperately try to turn the
boat with their oars so that they are
facing forward, but the surf is too powerful.
(10:28):
The wherry capsizes and washes onto the beach,
upside down.
Brian, Leathead and Cookie run over.
They help the Americans turn the boat upright.
The three Australians are miraculously still alive.
They are placed back in the bottom of
the boat.
Brian decides to add more ballast to the
boat.
He runs back to the beach and selects
(10:48):
four men.
They stagger to the boat and clamber aboard.
Each man is handed a paddle.
The three sickest men have already been helped
aboard and are placed in the bottom of
the boat.
McGreevy looks to the heavens and asks for
a helping hand.
Lord, if you could lend a hand down
here, there are lots of men who'd really
(11:08):
appreciate it.
A large set of breakers comes through, leaving
the water momentarily dormant.
She is their chance.
Wait!
Wait!
Now!
Push!
Push!
Come on!
Give it everything!
Push!
Keep paddling!
Keep bloody paddling!
(11:29):
The four Americans, along with Cookie, Leathead and
Brian, push the boat through the surf.
They get up some good speed, the boat
trailing a wake through the foam.
When they are knee-deep in water, the
four Americans leap aboard and take hold of
the paddles from the four airmen.
The Americans plunge their paddles deep into the
water, maintaining the boat's speed as she hits
the heavy surf.
(11:50):
The first wave stops them in their tracks.
The paddlers hold the boat steady.
The second wave washes over the bow and
the Wherry begins to stagger and retreat.
Come on!
Give it everything!
Ensign Cook calls out to hang on when
the boat surges forward.
Backwash, running seaward, takes the Wherry over the
last hurdle.
Joe McGreevy sees divine intervention.
(12:13):
An invisible hand picked up the stern and
shoved the boat and its battling crew in
the calmer waters.
With the Wherry out in the relative safety
beyond the surf, Ensign Cook returns to the
beach trailing the long lines.
He can barely stand.
The other Americans are spent.
Cook has one last swim in him.
(12:34):
Brian divides them into two groups and with
Cookie's help takes the first group through the
surf.
The wind skims foam off the top of
the sea.
The waves are sculpted into unnatural shapes.
Once they've made it through the surf, the
two airmen return to shore while Ensign Cook
nurses the five men the final strokes to
the Wherry.
(12:56):
Cookie and Brian collapse on the beach, spluttering
water and inhaling air.
Five men to go.
Brian looks up and sees a sixth man
on the beach.
His trademark smile bright enough to see in
the night.
George has returned.
Faintly in the hills, torchlights can be seen.
(13:16):
The Japanese are nearly on top of them
and with Cookie screaming at him to hurry
up, Brian staggers up the beach to the
edge of the jungle.
He finds the money bag he left under
a palm tree and races the bag over
to George.
George takes the bag and gives Brian a
(13:38):
note.
It's too dark to read.
Brian pulls out his cigarette case and carefully
folds it next to the surrender letter he
had stored inside.
He shakes George's hand, bids him farewell and
enters the surf, the last airman to escape
Timor.
Brian makes it to the break line, wave
after wave slapping him under, his strength forsaking
(13:58):
him at last.
His hand loses the long line and he's
tumbled around.
He's lost his bearings.
The fight drains out of him.
At the last moment, Brian feels a strong
arm reach under his stomach and pull him
back up to the surface.
Cookie and Brian pull themselves along the line.
(14:20):
They make it beyond the surf and are
hauled into the wherry.
Once all are aboard, the Americans plunge their
oars into the sea.
Slowly, they draw away from Timor.
Brian lifts his head above the gunwales.
He sees the lights of the Japanese moments
from the beach.
George is nowhere to be seen.
(14:41):
Brian turns back to the sea.
Eventually the water steadies as they move into
Sea Raven's lead.
The men are brought onto the ship with
Phil Keen laid unconscious on the deck while
the others are lowered down the hatch.
All but two of the airmen had to
be carried below on the shoulders of our
men.
(15:01):
Brian and Cookie walk down the ladder on
their own steam.
Before lowering himself through the hatch, Brian takes
a last look at Timor.
It's an island he will not be able
to forget.
The resting place for four men under his
command and the place he believed would be
his own tomb.
Stow the wherry.
Gun crew, secure the deck gun.
The wherry is hoisted on deck and stowed
(15:23):
inside the superstructure.
In all the excitement, nobody notices that Phil
Keen has been left on the deck of
the submarine.
All ahead full.
Clear the bridge.
Prepare to dive.
The klaxon sounds, indicating the submarine is diving.
(15:45):
Phil Keen comes to his senses.
He hears the rushing of water and feels
the wind whipping across him.
But everyone has gone.
Dread and terror rush through his body, giving
him one last boost of energy.
With all his strength, he calls for help.
Help.
Help.
The last sailor steps into the after battery
(16:08):
and prepares to close the hatch when he
hears a voice.
It's so soft, the wind nearly sweeps it
away.
Hey mate, what about me?
It's Phil Keen's first coherent sentence in a
week and it saves his life.
Willing hands are summoned topside and Phil is
lowered into the submarine.
With the boat secure, Cassidy heads for the
(16:28):
mess to find the leader of the rescued
party.
Brian's face is buried in a bowl of
tomato soup while his hands tear apart a
piece of bread.
Cassidy invites him to finish up his meal
in his state room.
Captain, I can't thank you enough.
He points Brian to a seat, unlocks a
(16:48):
cabinet and pulls out a bottle and two
glasses.
I don't think we'd have made it to
sunrise.
The boys on the sub were marvellous.
Although the navy is dry, it was necessary
to crack a few bottles of scotch for
medicinal purposes.
Sometime that night, Brian remembers the note George
(17:09):
had handed him.
He pulls out the cigarette case.
Water has seeped in but the letter is
only damp at the edges.
George's note is torn down the middle.
It's a note of currency.
On the face of it, written in Dutch,
it says the Japanese government pays one guilder
to the bearer.
In Brian's view, there's only one way George
(17:30):
could have possibly got this note of currency.
He'd intercepted the Japanese patrol and under the
pretense of helping them locate the Australians was
rewarded money for services rendered.
In fact, George had thrown them off the
scent.
He'd then returned to see the airmen off.
It was an act of bravery that every
member of the rear party would never forget.
(17:52):
The Americans saved us but it was George
who kept us alive.
April the 20th and Sea Raven is heading
for Fremantle, Western Australia.
With Darwin still subject to raids, Fremantle is
deemed a safer port but the new destination
(18:15):
will add five days to Sea Raven's journey.
Cassidy worries that many of those Australians won't
make it.
All suffering from malaria and tropical fevers.
Three unconscious and in serious condition.
Many tropical ulcers.
One serious.
Twelve bed patients.
All require hospitalisation.
(18:35):
As for the others, they gorge on dark
chocolate, bread, scrambled eggs and poached eggs.
Coffee, tinned fruit, hot cocoa, cake, beef stew,
soup and American Jell-O.
They killed us with kindness.
Rich food.
We got some hot soup but there's all
sorts of stuff which didn't suit our caged
in stomachs.
(18:56):
I'd lost half my body weight.
I was 14.
I went down to seven.
Somewhere even worse than that.
The ants killed us with kindness.
Nobody considers the ramifications of unrestrained eating after
two months of severe rationing.
Men keel over and vomit.
The sailors hand over their spare clothes and
(19:17):
give up hammocks, offer up their decks of
cards and reading material and lend an ear
to the airmen's story.
Those Aussies were grand.
They'd been through hell for weeks.
They were as weak as babes.
Those who could stand up promptly asked if
they could do anything to lend a hand.
Seemed kind of disappointed when we told them
everything was OK.
(19:38):
For the airmen, it all seems like heaven
after the hell of the last two months.
Their constant terror and fear is finally lifting.
The sickest men are even starting to show
signs of improvement.
But there's one last obstacle to overcome.
Two days out from Fremantle, a fire in
the manoeuvring room cripples the submarine.
(20:00):
An Australian ship, the HMAS Maryborough, tows her
the rest of the way with a Catalina
flying boat providing air cover and the American
destroyers USS Parrot and USS Paul Jones providing
a screen.
Sea Raven and her escorts finally enter the
port of Fremantle at first light on April
26, 1942, six days after leaving Timorese waters.
(20:25):
A small gathering of senior US Navy officers,
RAF officers and ambulance officers waits on the
docks.
All the Australians are kept below decks, but
for one.
Standing on deck, flanked either side by Lieutenant
Commander Hiram Cassidy and Ensign George Cook, is
a dishevelled looking man in a United States
(20:46):
Naval officer's coat.
My grandfather, Brian Rofe, is accorded the honour
of being the only passenger permitted on deck
as the submarine heads into port.
Underneath his beard, Brian surely permitted himself a
smile.
He brought his men home, but they were
not out of danger yet.
The extent of each man's physical deterioration was
(21:08):
only properly assessed once they were admitted to
Perth's Hollywood Hospital.
Every man was diagnosed with malaria and prescribed
huge doses of quinine.
All had lost a huge amount of weight,
none more so than Phil Keen, who weighed
92 kilograms at the beginning of the ordeal
and 38 kilograms by the end.
In his report, Brian commended Phil for his
(21:30):
fighting spirit, his refusal to surrender to his
illness.
He named ten others for their courage, stamina
and selfless contribution, but he saved his highest
praise for Flying Officer Arthur Cole, recommending him
for honours for the faithful service he gave
the commanding officer.
It was on this recommendation that Arthur received
an MBE.
(21:51):
Brian also mentioned Flight Lieutenant Harold Cook in
his report, for helping the sick and enfeebled
men through the surf on the last night
of the evacuation and effectively saving their lives.
Although Cookie didn't receive any honours for his
part in the rescue, he would ultimately be
appointed as commanding officer of Number 33 Squadron,
which was based out of Port Moresby, and
where he would be cited in official reports
(22:13):
for somewhat different reasons.
Using 33 Squadron's aircraft and supplies, Cookie ran
cigarettes and whiskey from New Guinea to Australia,
making approximately one pound per carton and anything
from five to ten pounds per bottle.
It was one of the biggest rackets of
the Pacific War.
Eventually he was caught and court-martialed, the
(22:34):
whole affair making national headlines.
The trial was a major embarrassment for the
Air Force, and to end their spectacle, Cookie
was coaxed into a deal.
He could keep the profits of his illegal
enterprise, provided he confessed to all charges and
accepted a 12-month prison sentence, after which
he'd be cashiered out of the military.
Cookie took the deal.
(22:55):
In a private letter to my grandfather, Cookie
fessed up to pocketing 40,000 pounds, a
figure equivalent to roughly two million dollars today.
Despite his unscrupulous character, Cookie never forgot a
friend.
He ran an effective public relations campaign many
years after the war, and raised money for
some Timorese villagers who suffered at the hands
(23:16):
of the Japanese for helping the stranded Australian
airmen.
Brian also singled out Corporal Ron Bellany's report,
the party's senior wireless electrical mechanic.
All members of the rescue party were in
agreement that Ron's technical prowess and skill in
radio ensured their survival, but Ron was overlooked
for decoration.
He would receive public recognition in a different
(23:38):
walk of life.
After the war, Ron's love of radio was
overtaken by an even keener obsession for horticulture,
specifically breeding roses.
Ron was awarded an OAM for the breeding
and cultivation of roses and won the prestigious
Queen Mother's International Award for Rose Breeding.
Ron was one of five surviving airmen I
(23:58):
met in my research before they died.
All five had led full lives.
They'd all married, raised children, worked hard, and
after the ordeal they endured on Timore, treated
every day as a blessing.
Like all the members of the rescued rear
party, they were ordinary men caught up in
extraordinary circumstances, but when you consider the unseen
(24:18):
wounds that they all bore, their optimism and
zeal for life made them remarkable.
Len Burke told me at the end of
my last interview with him that hardly a
day goes by when I don't think about
something that happened on Timore.
Len also told me something about Brian Rofe
that I'd heard in other interviews with those
men.
He told me that despite finding himself out
(24:39):
of Brian's favour on more than one occasion
and feeling the full force of Brian's temper,
he would sometimes think who would have made
a better leader?
And there was no one else besides Brian.
Who would have made a better leader?
There was no one.
My grandfather would be awarded an MBE for
commanding the RAF rear party on Timore and
leading them to safety.
Brian and Arthur Cole's awards were reported in
(25:01):
the press in October 1942.
Information was limited to each man's citation, details
relating to the rescue were censored, and for
good reason.
The Sea Raven mission was proof that the
rescue of displaced soldiers trapped on Japanese-held
islands could be affected by submarine.
Allied intelligence was determined to keep the revelations
secret from the Japanese so as not to
(25:22):
endanger future missions.
By the time the gagging order in the
Australian press was lifted in February 1944, the
papers were full of morale-boosting reports of
Japanese reversals.
The story had become indistinguishable from countless other
tales of bravery and courage that were emerging
out of the bloodiest conflict in human history.
It was a slightly different story in America,
(25:44):
where the rescue was given a two-page
spread in the popular Saturday Evening Post.
The report focused on the crew of the
Sea Raven and celebrated the heroism of George
Cook and Hiram Cassidy, who both received the
Navy Cross, the American military's second-highest decoration
awarded for valour in combat.
In 1957, the story was featured in The
(26:06):
Silent Service, a popular television series which dramatised
actual submarine stories of the war.
The show was hosted by Rear Admiral Thomas
M.
Dykers, retired.
Here he is introducing the Sea Raven story.
In the spring of 1942, the USS Sea
(26:29):
Raven went through one of the most thrilling
episodes of the war.
The show was wildly inaccurate and very much
of its time, but it did feature a
short interview with George Cook.
We are fortunate to have with us the
hero of our story, Ensign George C.
Cook, who is now Commander Cook, United States
Navy.
(26:50):
George, when you volunteered for submarines, you probably
had no idea you'd go through one of
your most hair-raising experiences ashore.
That's right, sir, and especially on an island
as remote as Tamoor.
You must be quite a swimmer to have
made those trips through the surf, particularly carrying
a man on your back.
Well, I was brought up on the shores
of Massachusetts and been swimming practically all my
life on the surf.
(27:10):
How did it feel to have all those
strange people scattered for the jungle when you
turned the light on your face?
Even before I turned the flashlight out, it
was one of life's darkest moments.
You were decorated with a Navy cross for
this action, and you certainly deserve it.
Congratulations to you.
And then the story disappeared from public view,
but those who lived through the ordeal would
(27:30):
never forget, even if, at times, forgetting was
exactly what they wanted.
My grandfather would quickly discover that he would
never truly escape the horrors he endured on
Tamoor.
It happened a month after his return to
Australia.
Brian had spent two weeks recovering in hospital
before marrying his beloved Patricia Whitford in Adelaide.
(27:51):
The newlyweds then travelled to Melbourne for their
honeymoon.
Shortly after checking into their hotel, Brian was
back in Tamoor.
As my grandmother recalled in her memoirs, we
were about to go out for a meal
and he began to shiver violently.
The riggers persisted, me panicking.
He said, just leave me alone.
But then came extraordinary sweating.
(28:13):
All the towels came into action.
And then the horrors experienced back in Tamoor's
jungle.
Swearing at the poor fellows who were slowing
up and shouting encouragement to all and sundry.
The language was awful and I was terrified
we'd be asked to leave.
The malarial attacks would plague Brian for the
rest of his life, as they would plague
(28:34):
all the airmen.
At the cessation of hostilities, Brian was sent
back to Tamoor.
He organised the repatriation of the remains of
Private Clem Clements, Corporal Roy Andrews, Aircraftman Jim
Graham and Pilot Officer Peter Thompson.
Brian also served as the RAF representative during
Japan's formal surrender of Tamoor at Penfoe Aerodrome.
(28:56):
After the ceremony, he took a stroll through
the operations hut, mess and barracks that had
been his home for five months.
It was mostly destroyed, but inside the operations
hut, he found a white parachute stuffed into
the bottom drawer of a desk.
It made him think of the day of
invasion, when he and his men were very
nearly caught on the wrong side of the
paratroop drop.
(29:16):
This parachute belonged to a soldier who served
under Lieutenant Yamabe Masao.
Yamabe had continued his violent reign of terror
in Dutch Tamoor after Brian and his men
escaped.
He was accused of leading six separate group
executions of captured Allied servicemen, Dutch nationals and
missionaries throughout Tamoor and Ambon.
(29:37):
Separately, Yamabe was implicated in the execution of
Sergeants Bert Hurl and Doug Witham, the airgunners
aboard Cookies doomed Hudson.
Yamabe also murdered at least four Tamoorese men
in reprisal for helping the Australian airmen escape.
The number of Tamoorese Yamabe killed was almost
certainly higher, and they are among the estimated
The date is April 17, 1942.
The RAF Rear Party, under the command of
my grandfather, Flight Lieutenant Brian Rofe, has been
trapped behind lines for 57 days.
The members of the party are strewn across
a beach on the northwest coast of Dutch
Timor, near the village of Toor Kowl.
Shortly after making contact with an American submarine,
(00:31):
the USS Sea Raven, lights from two Japanese
patrols can be seen converging on the party's
position from different ends of the beach.
Both patrols are expected to arrive at Toor
Kowl sometime the following day.
A decision is made to evacuate half the
party, an endeavour that will require 16 malaria
-stricken airmen to swim through a large surf
(00:52):
in the dead of night to a wooden
wherry sitting out beyond the waves.
Brian selects the fittest men to make the
swim, and remains on the beach with men
so sick most can barely stand.
The last man he selects to swim through
the surf that night is leading aircraftman Len
Burke.
So I was the last one picked on
the first night, the rest were to look
(01:14):
for dooms.
I'm Tom Trumbull, and this is Trapped.
Men and women of Australia, the story of
one of the greatest escapes of the Pacific
War.
The Japanese naval and air forces launched an
(01:35):
unprovoked attack, a state of war exists between
Australia and Japan.
Chapter 6 The Longest Day Mid
-afternoon on April the 18th, 1942 on the
(01:57):
beach at Toor Kowl.
The chief of the village tells Brian that
the Japanese patrol coming from the southern end
of the beach will arrive before nightfall, a
few hours away.
The chief recommends hiding in the hills.
Brian shakes his head.
Two of his men are delirious and one
is a breathing skeleton.
Hiking back into the hills will kill them.
(02:19):
Another week on Timor and eight will be
dead.
Besides, they no longer had a radio to
contact Darwin and arrange another rescue.
Tonight they escape, or they die.
The chief gives Brian two turtle eggs and
then takes his people into the jungle.
For the rest of the day, Brian, his
good friend, Hudson pilot, Flight Lieutenant Harold Cookie
(02:42):
Cook and Cookie's co-pilot, Pilot Officer Vivian
Leathead, keep watch.
The other men are strewn out under the
jungle canopy, hidden from the view of enemy
reconnaissance aircraft.
Shortly before dusk, Brian lights a fire to
boil the turtle eggs and some rice.
He offers the three sickest men the eggs,
(03:03):
but they've all gone off their food.
Brian checks the condition of the others and
concludes that leading aircraftman Clyde Pappin looks in
the worst shape.
Brian said, I'm going to get you a
couple of eggs.
I said, you?
Where are you going to get a couple
of eggs?
He said, turtle eggs.
And you know, he gave me two eggs
(03:26):
and they were delicious.
And immediately I felt better.
Just wanted to nourish them.
He wouldn't leave us.
He stayed behind.
He didn't have to, but he did.
He got everyone on board before him.
(03:48):
He was a good leader, I had no
doubt about that.
After dinner, Brian douses the fire.
With Cookie and Leathead's help, he digs a
large hole.
They throw in clothing, boots, empty knapsacks, firearms
and kerosene tins before covering it all up.
Brian doesn't want to leave anything at all
(04:08):
to the enemy.
Aside from the tattered clothes in which he
stood, Brian retains a cigarette case.
He opens up the case and slips inside
a letter demanding his surrender, sent from the
Japanese and handed to him the previous day
by a Timorese courier.
The only thing left is the bag of
money.
(04:28):
Flying officer Arthur Cole took 3,000 guilders
out to the submarine the night before.
Brian calculates he has about 800 guilders worth
of coins.
He'd intended on giving the money to George,
his Timorese guide from Capsali.
But George's disappearance the night before had put
paid to those plans.
Brian leaves the money bag at the base
of a tree.
(04:49):
If the chief of Tuakau or one of
these people return, he'll give it to them.
Otherwise, Brian will hurl it into the sea
before they go.
At sunset, those that are strong enough stand
up and cautiously walk out onto the beach.
Every eye looks south, to where torchlights of
(05:10):
the patrol had been seen the night before.
All they could see was the light blinking
from the cape, at least 16 kilometres away.
Cookie hushes their cheers, fearful that unfriendly ears
further inland would hear their celebrations.
But Brian says nothing.
He looks out to sea beyond the large
surf.
(05:31):
He sees something that only a man trained
in meteorology would spot, something unsettling.
There are no stars on the horizon.
That night, Lieutenant Commander Hiram Cassidy, captain of
the USS Sea Raven, decides to add a
crewman to the wherry.
(05:52):
A hefty chief machinist mate, Chief Petty Officer
John Lorenz, would join Ensign George Cook, Petty
Officer Swede Markison and Petty Officer Joe McGreavy.
Lorenz will stay in the boat while the
other three swim to the beach.
At seven o'clock, two hours before rendezvous,
Sea Raven surfaces.
(06:12):
Surfaced an observed air raid on Copang.
This one seemed to be about twice the
size of last night's raid.
Cassidy sees something else.
Japanese torches blinking near the two mountain peaks
towards the interior.
The Japanese are now converging on Tuakau from
a third point.
But the patrol in the south is in
(06:32):
more or less the same position as the
previous night.
Something or someone has stalled the Japanese.
A storm approaches.
It's anyone's guess as to when it will
arrive.
At nine o'clock, Cassidy trains his binoculars
towards the beach.
The thirty second torch signal is seen.
(06:55):
Cassidy tells his signalman on the blinker gun
to flash SR SR in acknowledgement and then
orders the launching of the wherry.
Five hundred metres off the coast, the swell
begins to noticeably rise and fall.
It's bigger than the previous night.
Ensign Cook's eyes are focused shoreward.
He can see the lights in the jungle
(07:17):
drawing closer to the rendezvous point.
To Cook, it looks like they are within
a few kilometres of the beach.
Once the boat's in position, the anchor is
lowered.
McGreevy and Cook flash their torches towards the
beach and immediately receive the signal.
McGreevy, Markison and Cook all dive into the
heaving sea.
Lorenz watches on as the long lines run
(07:38):
out over the gunwale.
The waves are huge, at least fifteen feet.
The three men are all swallowed up in
the surf.
Violently turned and twisted, the Americans are dumped
on the beach, shocked at the power of
the surf.
Panting and exhausted, they look back.
The peaks of the waves hide the wherry
(08:00):
from view.
Markison leads them to the airmen.
Cook and McGreevy each trail a long line
with five life jackets attached.
Thank you for coming back, Ensign Cook.
We owe you.
Couldn't have missed it for the world.
Joe McGreevy is appalled at the sight of
the half-dead men huddled together on the
beach.
They were a miserable looking group, in much
(08:22):
poorer shape than the first group.
A lightning strike illuminates the beach.
Ensign Cook pulls out three rolls of bandages
from a pouch attached to his waist and
hands one each to McGreevy and Markison.
The three sickest men are lifted out of
the stretches.
They each have their wrists tied together with
(08:42):
a bandage.
Their bound arms are then looped around the
neck of one of the submariners.
McGreevy carries 21-year-old aircraftman Phil Keen.
They wade in.
Waist deep, McGreevy sees a large wave approaching.
The bandages bite into McGreevy's neck as he
fights his way through the breakers.
(09:04):
Once they enter deeper water, the bandages start
to cut off McGreevy's air supply.
Wheezing and turning red, McGreevy ducks under the
last wave, hauling himself along the line towards
the wherry.
Lorenz reaches over and pulls Phil off McGreevy's
shoulders and lays him down in the bilge
area.
With deep red marks across his throat, McGreevy
(09:24):
hauls himself aboard.
Markison and Cook arrive, struggling to keep the
barely conscious Australians from dragging them under.
Eventually, they make it to the wherry.
All three rescuers crumple on the bottom of
the boat alongside their distressed passengers and suck
in lungfuls of air.
Lorenz stands over them at the stern of
(09:46):
the boat.
The worst of it is over.
With Cookie and Brian's help, the remaining airmen
can now be taken out in one go.
The three Americans are preparing to return to
the beach when the storm arrives.
A wind gust pushes the wherry into the
surf.
The anchor digs into the sand, bringing the
wherry broadside to the waves.
(10:07):
Cook and McGreevy grab an oar and begin
back-paddling, but the wind is too strong.
The anchor slips.
Water pours over the gunwales, drenching the three
barely conscious Australians.
Cook and McGreevy desperately try to turn the
boat with their oars so that they are
facing forward, but the surf is too powerful.
(10:28):
The wherry capsizes and washes onto the beach,
upside down.
Brian, Leathead and Cookie run over.
They help the Americans turn the boat upright.
The three Australians are miraculously still alive.
They are placed back in the bottom of
the boat.
Brian decides to add more ballast to the
boat.
He runs back to the beach and selects
(10:48):
four men.
They stagger to the boat and clamber aboard.
Each man is handed a paddle.
The three sickest men have already been helped
aboard and are placed in the bottom of
the boat.
McGreevy looks to the heavens and asks for
a helping hand.
Lord, if you could lend a hand down
here, there are lots of men who'd really
(11:08):
appreciate it.
A large set of breakers comes through, leaving
the water momentarily dormant.
She is their chance.
Wait!
Wait!
Now!
Push!
Push!
Come on!
Give it everything!
Push!
Keep paddling!
Keep bloody paddling!
(11:29):
The four Americans, along with Cookie, Leathead and
Brian, push the boat through the surf.
They get up some good speed, the boat
trailing a wake through the foam.
When they are knee-deep in water, the
four Americans leap aboard and take hold of
the paddles from the four airmen.
The Americans plunge their paddles deep into the
water, maintaining the boat's speed as she hits
the heavy surf.
(11:50):
The first wave stops them in their tracks.
The paddlers hold the boat steady.
The second wave washes over the bow and
the Wherry begins to stagger and retreat.
Come on!
Give it everything!
Ensign Cook calls out to hang on when
the boat surges forward.
Backwash, running seaward, takes the Wherry over the
last hurdle.
Joe McGreevy sees divine intervention.
(12:13):
An invisible hand picked up the stern and
shoved the boat and its battling crew in
the calmer waters.
With the Wherry out in the relative safety
beyond the surf, Ensign Cook returns to the
beach trailing the long lines.
He can barely stand.
The other Americans are spent.
Cook has one last swim in him.
(12:34):
Brian divides them into two groups and with
Cookie's help takes the first group through the
surf.
The wind skims foam off the top of
the sea.
The waves are sculpted into unnatural shapes.
Once they've made it through the surf, the
two airmen return to shore while Ensign Cook
nurses the five men the final strokes to
the Wherry.
(12:56):
Cookie and Brian collapse on the beach, spluttering
water and inhaling air.
Five men to go.
Brian looks up and sees a sixth man
on the beach.
His trademark smile bright enough to see in
the night.
George has returned.
Faintly in the hills, torchlights can be seen.
(13:16):
The Japanese are nearly on top of them
and with Cookie screaming at him to hurry
up, Brian staggers up the beach to the
edge of the jungle.
He finds the money bag he left under
a palm tree and races the bag over
to George.
George takes the bag and gives Brian a
(13:38):
note.
It's too dark to read.
Brian pulls out his cigarette case and carefully
folds it next to the surrender letter he
had stored inside.
He shakes George's hand, bids him farewell and
enters the surf, the last airman to escape
Timor.
Brian makes it to the break line, wave
after wave slapping him under, his strength forsaking
(13:58):
him at last.
His hand loses the long line and he's
tumbled around.
He's lost his bearings.
The fight drains out of him.
At the last moment, Brian feels a strong
arm reach under his stomach and pull him
back up to the surface.
Cookie and Brian pull themselves along the line.
(14:20):
They make it beyond the surf and are
hauled into the wherry.
Once all are aboard, the Americans plunge their
oars into the sea.
Slowly, they draw away from Timor.
Brian lifts his head above the gunwales.
He sees the lights of the Japanese moments
from the beach.
George is nowhere to be seen.
(14:41):
Brian turns back to the sea.
Eventually the water steadies as they move into
Sea Raven's lead.
The men are brought onto the ship with
Phil Keen laid unconscious on the deck while
the others are lowered down the hatch.
All but two of the airmen had to
be carried below on the shoulders of our
men.
(15:01):
Brian and Cookie walk down the ladder on
their own steam.
Before lowering himself through the hatch, Brian takes
a last look at Timor.
It's an island he will not be able
to forget.
The resting place for four men under his
command and the place he believed would be
his own tomb.
Stow the wherry.
Gun crew, secure the deck gun.
The wherry is hoisted on deck and stowed
(15:23):
inside the superstructure.
In all the excitement, nobody notices that Phil
Keen has been left on the deck of
the submarine.
All ahead full.
Clear the bridge.
Prepare to dive.
The klaxon sounds, indicating the submarine is diving.
(15:45):
Phil Keen comes to his senses.
He hears the rushing of water and feels
the wind whipping across him.
But everyone has gone.
Dread and terror rush through his body, giving
him one last boost of energy.
With all his strength, he calls for help.
Help.
Help.
The last sailor steps into the after battery
(16:08):
and prepares to close the hatch when he
hears a voice.
It's so soft, the wind nearly sweeps it
away.
Hey mate, what about me?
It's Phil Keen's first coherent sentence in a
week and it saves his life.
Willing hands are summoned topside and Phil is
lowered into the submarine.
With the boat secure, Cassidy heads for the
(16:28):
mess to find the leader of the rescued
party.
Brian's face is buried in a bowl of
tomato soup while his hands tear apart a
piece of bread.
Cassidy invites him to finish up his meal
in his state room.
Captain, I can't thank you enough.
He points Brian to a seat, unlocks a
(16:48):
cabinet and pulls out a bottle and two
glasses.
I don't think we'd have made it to
sunrise.
The boys on the sub were marvellous.
Although the navy is dry, it was necessary
to crack a few bottles of scotch for
medicinal purposes.
Sometime that night, Brian remembers the note George
(17:09):
had handed him.
He pulls out the cigarette case.
Water has seeped in but the letter is
only damp at the edges.
George's note is torn down the middle.
It's a note of currency.
On the face of it, written in Dutch,
it says the Japanese government pays one guilder
to the bearer.
In Brian's view, there's only one way George
(17:30):
could have possibly got this note of currency.
He'd intercepted the Japanese patrol and under the
pretense of helping them locate the Australians was
rewarded money for services rendered.
In fact, George had thrown them off the
scent.
He'd then returned to see the airmen off.
It was an act of bravery that every
member of the rear party would never forget.
(17:52):
The Americans saved us but it was George
who kept us alive.
April the 20th and Sea Raven is heading
for Fremantle, Western Australia.
With Darwin still subject to raids, Fremantle is
deemed a safer port but the new destination
(18:15):
will add five days to Sea Raven's journey.
Cassidy worries that many of those Australians won't
make it.
All suffering from malaria and tropical fevers.
Three unconscious and in serious condition.
Many tropical ulcers.
One serious.
Twelve bed patients.
All require hospitalisation.
(18:35):
As for the others, they gorge on dark
chocolate, bread, scrambled eggs and poached eggs.
Coffee, tinned fruit, hot cocoa, cake, beef stew,
soup and American Jell-O.
They killed us with kindness.
Rich food.
We got some hot soup but there's all
sorts of stuff which didn't suit our caged
in stomachs.
(18:56):
I'd lost half my body weight.
I was 14.
I went down to seven.
Somewhere even worse than that.
The ants killed us with kindness.
Nobody considers the ramifications of unrestrained eating after
two months of severe rationing.
Men keel over and vomit.
The sailors hand over their spare clothes and
(19:17):
give up hammocks, offer up their decks of
cards and reading material and lend an ear
to the airmen's story.
Those Aussies were grand.
They'd been through hell for weeks.
They were as weak as babes.
Those who could stand up promptly asked if
they could do anything to lend a hand.
Seemed kind of disappointed when we told them
everything was OK.
(19:38):
For the airmen, it all seems like heaven
after the hell of the last two months.
Their constant terror and fear is finally lifting.
The sickest men are even starting to show
signs of improvement.
But there's one last obstacle to overcome.
Two days out from Fremantle, a fire in
the manoeuvring room cripples the submarine.
(20:00):
An Australian ship, the HMAS Maryborough, tows her
the rest of the way with a Catalina
flying boat providing air cover and the American
destroyers USS Parrot and USS Paul Jones providing
a screen.
Sea Raven and her escorts finally enter the
port of Fremantle at first light on April
26, 1942, six days after leaving Timorese waters.
(20:25):
A small gathering of senior US Navy officers,
RAF officers and ambulance officers waits on the
docks.
All the Australians are kept below decks, but
for one.
Standing on deck, flanked either side by Lieutenant
Commander Hiram Cassidy and Ensign George Cook, is
a dishevelled looking man in a United States
(20:46):
Naval officer's coat.
My grandfather, Brian Rofe, is accorded the honour
of being the only passenger permitted on deck
as the submarine heads into port.
Underneath his beard, Brian surely permitted himself a
smile.
He brought his men home, but they were
not out of danger yet.
The extent of each man's physical deterioration was
(21:08):
only properly assessed once they were admitted to
Perth's Hollywood Hospital.
Every man was diagnosed with malaria and prescribed
huge doses of quinine.
All had lost a huge amount of weight,
none more so than Phil Keen, who weighed
92 kilograms at the beginning of the ordeal
and 38 kilograms by the end.
In his report, Brian commended Phil for his
(21:30):
fighting spirit, his refusal to surrender to his
illness.
He named ten others for their courage, stamina
and selfless contribution, but he saved his highest
praise for Flying Officer Arthur Cole, recommending him
for honours for the faithful service he gave
the commanding officer.
It was on this recommendation that Arthur received
an MBE.
(21:51):
Brian also mentioned Flight Lieutenant Harold Cook in
his report, for helping the sick and enfeebled
men through the surf on the last night
of the evacuation and effectively saving their lives.
Although Cookie didn't receive any honours for his
part in the rescue, he would ultimately be
appointed as commanding officer of Number 33 Squadron,
which was based out of Port Moresby, and
where he would be cited in official reports
(22:13):
for somewhat different reasons.
Using 33 Squadron's aircraft and supplies, Cookie ran
cigarettes and whiskey from New Guinea to Australia,
making approximately one pound per carton and anything
from five to ten pounds per bottle.
It was one of the biggest rackets of
the Pacific War.
Eventually he was caught and court-martialed, the
(22:34):
whole affair making national headlines.
The trial was a major embarrassment for the
Air Force, and to end their spectacle, Cookie
was coaxed into a deal.
He could keep the profits of his illegal
enterprise, provided he confessed to all charges and
accepted a 12-month prison sentence, after which
he'd be cashiered out of the military.
Cookie took the deal.
(22:55):
In a private letter to my grandfather, Cookie
fessed up to pocketing 40,000 pounds, a
figure equivalent to roughly two million dollars today.
Despite his unscrupulous character, Cookie never forgot a
friend.
He ran an effective public relations campaign many
years after the war, and raised money for
some Timorese villagers who suffered at the hands
(23:16):
of the Japanese for helping the stranded Australian
airmen.
Brian also singled out Corporal Ron Bellany's report,
the party's senior wireless electrical mechanic.
All members of the rescue party were in
agreement that Ron's technical prowess and skill in
radio ensured their survival, but Ron was overlooked
for decoration.
He would receive public recognition in a different
(23:38):
walk of life.
After the war, Ron's love of radio was
overtaken by an even keener obsession for horticulture,
specifically breeding roses.
Ron was awarded an OAM for the breeding
and cultivation of roses and won the prestigious
Queen Mother's International Award for Rose Breeding.
Ron was one of five surviving airmen I
(23:58):
met in my research before they died.
All five had led full lives.
They'd all married, raised children, worked hard, and
after the ordeal they endured on Timore, treated
every day as a blessing.
Like all the members of the rescued rear
party, they were ordinary men caught up in
extraordinary circumstances, but when you consider the unseen
(24:18):
wounds that they all bore, their optimism and
zeal for life made them remarkable.
Len Burke told me at the end of
my last interview with him that hardly a
day goes by when I don't think about
something that happened on Timore.
Len also told me something about Brian Rofe
that I'd heard in other interviews with those
men.
He told me that despite finding himself out
(24:39):
of Brian's favour on more than one occasion
and feeling the full force of Brian's temper,
he would sometimes think who would have made
a better leader?
And there was no one else besides Brian.
Who would have made a better leader?
There was no one.
My grandfather would be awarded an MBE for
commanding the RAF rear party on Timore and
leading them to safety.
Brian and Arthur Cole's awards were reported in
(25:01):
the press in October 1942.
Information was limited to each man's citation, details
relating to the rescue were censored, and for
good reason.
The Sea Raven mission was proof that the
rescue of displaced soldiers trapped on Japanese-held
islands could be affected by submarine.
Allied intelligence was determined to keep the revelations
secret from the Japanese so as not to
(25:22):
endanger future missions.
By the time the gagging order in the
Australian press was lifted in February 1944, the
papers were full of morale-boosting reports of
Japanese reversals.
The story had become indistinguishable from countless other
tales of bravery and courage that were emerging
out of the bloodiest conflict in human history.
It was a slightly different story in America,
(25:44):
where the rescue was given a two-page
spread in the popular Saturday Evening Post.
The report focused on the crew of the
Sea Raven and celebrated the heroism of George
Cook and Hiram Cassidy, who both received the
Navy Cross, the American military's second-highest decoration
awarded for valour in combat.
In 1957, the story was featured in The
(26:06):
Silent Service, a popular television series which dramatised
actual submarine stories of the war.
The show was hosted by Rear Admiral Thomas
M.
Dykers, retired.
Here he is introducing the Sea Raven story.
In the spring of 1942, the USS Sea
(26:29):
Raven went through one of the most thrilling
episodes of the war.
The show was wildly inaccurate and very much
of its time, but it did feature a
short interview with George Cook.
We are fortunate to have with us the
hero of our story, Ensign George C.
Cook, who is now Commander Cook, United States
Navy.
(26:50):
George, when you volunteered for submarines, you probably
had no idea you'd go through one of
your most hair-raising experiences ashore.
That's right, sir, and especially on an island
as remote as Tamoor.
You must be quite a swimmer to have
made those trips through the surf, particularly carrying
a man on your back.
Well, I was brought up on the shores
of Massachusetts and been swimming practically all my
life on the surf.
(27:10):
How did it feel to have all those
strange people scattered for the jungle when you
turned the light on your face?
Even before I turned the flashlight out, it
was one of life's darkest moments.
You were decorated with a Navy cross for
this action, and you certainly deserve it.
Congratulations to you.
And then the story disappeared from public view,
but those who lived through the ordeal would
(27:30):
never forget, even if, at times, forgetting was
exactly what they wanted.
My grandfather would quickly discover that he would
never truly escape the horrors he endured on
Tamoor.
It happened a month after his return to
Australia.
Brian had spent two weeks recovering in hospital
before marrying his beloved Patricia Whitford in Adelaide.
(27:51):
The newlyweds then travelled to Melbourne for their
honeymoon.
Shortly after checking into their hotel, Brian was
back in Tamoor.
As my grandmother recalled in her memoirs, we
were about to go out for a meal
and he began to shiver violently.
The riggers persisted, me panicking.
He said, just leave me alone.
But then came extraordinary sweating.
(28:13):
All the towels came into action.
And then the horrors experienced back in Tamoor's
jungle.
Swearing at the poor fellows who were slowing
up and shouting encouragement to all and sundry.
The language was awful and I was terrified
we'd be asked to leave.
The malarial attacks would plague Brian for the
rest of his life, as they would plague
(28:34):
all the airmen.
At the cessation of hostilities, Brian was sent
back to Tamoor.
He organised the repatriation of the remains of
Private Clem Clements, Corporal Roy Andrews, Aircraftman Jim
Graham and Pilot Officer Peter Thompson.
Brian also served as the RAF representative during
Japan's formal surrender of Tamoor at Penfoe Aerodrome.
(28:56):
After the ceremony, he took a stroll through
the operations hut, mess and barracks that had
been his home for five months.
It was mostly destroyed, but inside the operations
hut, he found a white parachute stuffed into
the bottom drawer of a desk.
It made him think of the day of
invasion, when he and his men were very
nearly caught on the wrong side of the
paratroop drop.
(29:16):
This parachute belonged to a soldier who served
under Lieutenant Yamabe Masao.
Yamabe had continued his violent reign of terror
in Dutch Tamoor after Brian and his men
escaped.
He was accused of leading six separate group
executions of captured Allied servicemen, Dutch nationals and
missionaries throughout Tamoor and Ambon.
(29:37):
Separately, Yamabe was implicated in the execution of
Sergeants Bert Hurl and Doug Witham, the airgunners
aboard Cookies doomed Hudson.
Yamabe also murdered at least four Tamoorese men
in reprisal for helping the Australian airmen escape.
The number of Tamoorese Yamabe killed was almost
certainly higher, and they are among the estimated
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