JAPAN AT WAR, 1931-1945

"It was my father, Rudolf Diercke, formerly a planter in New Guinea, who with his elderly grandmother tended to the wounded survivors of the above B-17F's crash landing off the beach and adjacent to his plantation homestead. Two crewmen were dead. The other ten were in various states of shock, and most suffered physical injuries from the air combat and crash, two seriously so, including Vetter who Dad personally attended on.

"Sgt Vetter handed his ring to my father who hid it prior to the Jap Marines entering his home; he later buried it nearby, and retrieved it after the cessation of hostilities in Sept '45, following his release from the Japanese prison camp on New Ireland. My Dad suffered terribly at the hands of the Japanese. His grandmother, together with at least one other younger female relative died in the Bopire Camp from starvation and criminal neglect In fact, he happened to be the sole surviving European to emerge alive from New Ireland after war's end. He was very emaciated, weighing in at just six stone and was clearly suffering from severe PTSD.

"Dad very rarely spoke to anyone about his experiences in the War, but we do know that he was tormented for the rest of his life at being the only expatriate survivor and his frustration at not being able to better help those brave airmen of the "Reckless Mountain Boys" before they went into captivity." -- Lawrence Diercke

Postwar, an erroneous account had it that Sgt Vetter's ring was returned by a Japanese guard, but Mr. Diercke has the receipt from the Australian army officer to whom he gave it for forwarding to Vetter's family. I am happy to set the record straight. Blue skies! -- Dan Ford