In random order

To read more about the fotografer.net members impression, you could try this links(in Bahasa Indonesia mostly) http://www.fotografer.net/isi/forum/topik.php?id=836992&p=1

Please don’t use those picture without permission from the original owner.

It’s a time to taste the delicious fried squid with tasty sauces, or red snapper with Chinese tofu. All in the prices that you can afford.

Our recommendation is in their Sapo Tahu (Sea food Japanese Tofu), Red Fish with tausi, and hot-plate vegetables.

It was a great miss, if you visited Biak, and not dine in Rumah Makan Jakarta.

Unfortunately the staff in Jakarta is quiet dull. You shall ask for the manager or the owner for the Specialty.

Jumlah kamar hotel yang tersedia di Biak sudahlah tidak memadai untuk menampung para peserta dan pendukung Pesparawi 2007, bahkan jalur transportasi pun akan sangat padat pada minggu-minggu tersebut.

Akomodasi yang tersedia tidak mencukupi ini, membuat Pemda Biak menjadikan sekolah-sekolah yang ada di Biak untuk menjadi Hotel sementara bagi para peserta Pesparawi ini.

Bukan hanya sekolah, rumah-rumah pun ada yang sudah menyiapkan tempat bagi peserta yang kebetulan masih berhubungan keluarga dengan pemilik rumah.

Kegiatan Pesparawi ini akan dipusatkan pada empat titik, yaitu Gereja Maranatha, Gereja Imanuel Agung, Gereja Sion Ridge, dan Gedung “Wanita” di kompleks kantor Bupati Biak sebagai tempat diadakan puncak pehelatan akbar Papua ini.

Kegiatan Pesparawi 2007 benar-benar akan sangat menjadi pecutan bagi dunia pariwisata Biak, untuk menjadi tuan rumah yang lebih baik.

Tour Bus

Bis Pariwisata berkapasitas 25 orang, full ac, TV display, serta sound system yang dapat digunakan untuk berkaroke. Memiliki tarif sebagai berikut:

• Dalam kota, Rp 600.000,-
• Luar kota, Rp. 800.000,- s/d Rp. 1.000.000,- (tergantung dari jarak tempuhnya).

Speed Boat

Speed Boat dengan kapasitas 25 orang, full ac. Dengan daya jelajah sangat cepat, dapat disewa dengan tarif Rp. 2.000.000,- / hari, berikut dengan snack dan makan siang.

Jet Ski

Jet Ski dapat digunakan/disewa pada lokasi wisata Parai (Monumen Perang Dunia ke II) dengan tarif Rp. 50.000/ 15menit.

A sinking outrigger boat with 13 elderly, women, children, and men, were found. The crew of Team Swanido and the speedboat crew from Pariwisata Biak Numfor, rescued all the victims, and managed to recover and salvage the sinking boat in the dangerous choppy sea. The victims were treated from shock and cold onboard, Ryakaki.

All 13 victims were returned to Rani Island, including the salvaged outrigger boat, after a 4 hours slow cruise back under choppy sea conditions.

The video was shot and provided by Marcus Yu, our Korean sport fishing surveyor, and had been uploaded to youtube.com by me. You can also view the video at www.swanido.com.

On the other hand, the Army High Command was aware that General Anami, despite the rejection of his proposal for an all-out counter attack to retake Hollandia, remained inclined toward a decisive defense of the forward positions in the Geelvink Bay area.

Imperial General Headquarters was in no way disposed to consider an outright revision of the national defense zone at this stage, but at the same time it decided that General Anami must be restrained from pouring the bulk of the reinforcement divisions into the Geelvink Bay sector instead of using them in the weakly defended zone.

With the Navy section’s reassurance that the Geelvink Bay sector would have vital value in future naval operations, the Army Section dispatched a directive to Southern Army headquarters on 2 May, the main points of which were as follows:

1. The line to be secured in the Western New Guinea area is designated as a line connecting the southern part of Geelvink Bay, Manokwari, Sorong, and Halmahera.
2. Necessary troops will be withdrawn to Biak from the Sarmi district as quickly as possible.
3. Strategic points on and in the vicinity of Biak Island will be held as long as possible.

At that time, There were nine new airfields built in Western New Guinea under the 6th Air Division Operations September 1943 program, including Mokmer and Sorido in Biak, and Kamiri in Numfor. The two airfields completed were the Sorido I(Sorido), and Mokmer fields. The Sorido II(Burokoup) field was still under construction. In addition to these fields, provided for under the Army-Navy Central Agreement of 30 September 1943, the local forces planned the construction of three others in the Bosnek sector, but Inability to obtain the necessary materials and equipment, however, prevented the start of actual construction on all but one of these fields.

Biak was the key strong-point of the defensive line, primary emphasis was laid upon the construction of airfields.

Biaku Sento Gaiyo, “Biak War Summary” would be our entries about the War in Biak on 1944, in Japanesse visions. Who was there, and what keep them high while it fall.

Contents:

1. Page 1 - Why Biak?
2. Page 2 - The Strong Hold
3. Page 3 - Mokmer Airfield
4. Page 4 - Battle of Ibdi
5. Page 5 - Ended Hope

Source:

• Mac Arthur Reports - Chapter X - Western New Guinea Operations
• and its end-notes

Pod of Sperm Whale in Northwest Biak

Dive Swanido Biak Promo Video

For more information about Swanido, please read our entry or visit their website at http://www.swanido.com

This post would like to point and reminding us to what did happened on “Abyau Binsar” Cave a.k.a Japanese Cave (Goa Jepang, Bahasa Indonesia) in Biak during 1944 war.

During late May to July 1944, US Army fights Japanese ferociously in Biak. The biggest fights was on 22 June 1944, when US Army finally discovers Japanese strong hold inside the Abyau Binsar Cave.

Abyau Binsar Cave is a huge cave north of Mokmer airdrome (now, Frans Kaisiepo International Airport, code: BIK), the entrances to this cave was shielded by stalagmites and stalactites and it’s has many tunnels and branches connecting several cave in the areas. This cave give Japanese a perfect set of strong hold to rendering the early taken Mokmer airdrome useless.

And this is how that strong hold ends…

After taking Sorido Airdrome and Borokoe Airdrome on the morning of 20 June the US Army moved to the surface area around the many caverns and sumps constituting the “Abyau Binsar” Cave, they found that the previous operations had eliminated most of the Japanese from the high ground north and northwest of the caves. Japanese still fight back by occasional rifle shots, which make the US know where to move forward. But from a multitude of crevices and cracks around the caves, and from the interior of the sump holes themselves, came a great deal of rifle and light automatic weapons fire, and the battalion was unable to get any men down into the sump depressions.

Drums of gasoline were rolled into many caves and then ignited in the hope that most of the Japanese would be killed. But the enemy fire continued almost unabated and the battalion withdrew to its previous positions before dark.

During the night, Japanese from the caves launched a number of small harassing attacks against the US Positions on the area. The Japanese also dragged mortars or light artillery out of the caves and lobbed a few shells on Mokmer Dome and the road along the beach.

Before daylight on the 21st, these Japanese and their weapons had disappeared back into the Caves.

On 21 June the battalions continues approaching the caves, they patrol out to clear Japanese riflemen from brush and crevices on hillocks north and northwest of the caves. The patrols, actually flame thrower teams supported by riflemen, accomplished their mission without much difficulty. US now surrounding the caves…

The infantry and tanks concentrated on the most westerly of three large sink holes comprising the Caves. The tanks fired into cave entrances; the infantrymen lobbed hand grenades into holes and crevices within reach; and all Japanese observed were quickly killed by rifle fire. But the battalion was unable to force its way into the main entrance to the underground caverns. Fire into this entrance was also ineffective, for the opening was shielded by stalagmites and stalactites. Engineers poured the contents of five gasoline drums into the cavern through crevices or points found on the surface of the ground.

Flame throwers then ignited the gasoline and the Battalion withdrew to await developments.

The Caves was on fire till then…

There were no immediately apparent results and, since it was believed that the Caves were still strongly held, the battalion did not attempt to send any more men into the entrance. In the late afternoon the unit again pulled back.

During the night of 21-22 June, Japanese poured out of the caves and rushed the US positions, some where attempting to escape to the west or north. Japanese however didn’t stop the fight, at night by light machine guns and light mortars support, they hit the southeast flank of the American regiment. They know they were out of numbers but event the .50-caliber machine guns couldn’t stop them, US opened fire and broke up the attack.

Undaunted, the Japanese made another break-through attempt about midnight, this time supported only by light mortars, the withdrawer useless for a second time.

On the 22 June the Japanese again attacked, now employing stealth, hand grenades, and bayonets as their principal weapons. The intensity of this final attack was such that the enemy reached the Infantry’s foxholes, and hand-to-hand combat ensued all along the regiment’s flank.

This attack quickly became disorganized and the Japanese scattered. Individual Japanese infantrymen and small groups continued to attack in a un-co-ordinate fashion until daylight.

Early in the morning, the 186th Infantry began mopping up southeast of the perimeter, killing a few Japanese who were hiding or playing ‘possum along the roadside. A final count revealed that 115 of the enemy had been killed, and it was believed that 109 of these had been slain during the reckless attacks beginning at 0400. The Japanese attackers had numbered about 150, according to Japanese sources. The 186th Infantry lost only 1 man killed and 5 wounded during the night.

US Infantry had by no means spent a quiet night, for other parties of Japanese from the caves had attacked the positions, which was located on the low ridge southwest of the sump holes.

This series of useless attacks had apparently resulted from a decision on the part of Lieutenant Colonel Kuzume, Biak Detachment commander, to acknowledge defeat.

In an impressive ceremony in the caves, Colonel Kuzume, surrounded by his staff, burned the colors of the 222d Infantry and, disemboweled himself in the tradition of the Samurai.

Whatever the cause and date of his death, on the night of 21-22 June Colonel Kuzume had instructed the forces remaining in the caves to withdraw to the north and west. This force is the remaining troops of Japanese, who had originally held the low ridge north of Mokmer Dome.

Most of the Japanese killed by the 186th Infantry during the night of 21-22 June were identified as members of the 221st Infantry, elements of which had been included in the reinforcements sent to Biak via operations KON.

While it was believed that the Japanese force which attacked the US position in that area represented the bulk of the enemy troops remaining in the caves, the US soon found that opposition had not ended.

Early on the morning of 22 June, US manage to approach the caves and catch out in the open a number of Japanese who had been manning heavy weapons during the night attacks and who had not had time to move themselves and their weapons back into the caves.

After killing these enemy troops the battalion again moved up to the sink-hole rims, which were found littered with enemy dead.

During the morning a number of explosions were heard inside the caves, and it was considered probable that gasoline, still burning after being poured into the caves the previous day, had reached some ammunition dumps. Again flame throwers were used, although these weapons had not proved very effective because they had a tendency to flash back on the operators from the cave walls.

Finally, a demolition detail from the US Engineers lowered two 500-pound charges of TNT into one of the cave entrances. The explosives were fired electrically. A few Japanese, at least one of whom had been driven insane by the explosions, came running out of the caves and were quickly killed.

In the evening, US reported that they heard no signs of enemy activity; the caves had been cleared out.

The next morning the battalion established a permanent bivouac around the various caves and depressions and continued to probe the area. The remaining Japanese were capable of defending themselves, hopeless though their situation was, and no troops were able to enter the caves until the afternoon of 25 June.

No deep penetration was attempted, however, and it was not until 27 June that US patrols, accompanied by members of Intelligence Detachment, penetrated to the innermost recesses of the Caves.

The stench of rotting Japanese bodies was revolting, and the sight nauseating. The entire cave area was strewn with Japanese bodies or parts of bodies. One gruesome area had apparently been used as an aid station and another possibly as a butcher shop for cannibalistically inclined survivors of the carnage since 18 June.

Three more Japanese were killed in the caves during the day, and large quantities of equipment and documents were found. Because of the advanced stage of decomposition of many of the dead, a complete count of Japanese bodies could not be made, but before overpowering odors drove the patrols out of the caves 125 more or less whole bodies were counted.

This was considered a minimum figure, for no estimate could be made of the numbers of Japanese represented by separated arms, legs, or torsos and it was impossible to guess how many Japanese had been sealed in smaller caves or crevices by artillery and mortar fire or by explosions of TNT and Japanese ammunition within the caves.

After six days of inaction, the US Engineer Aviation Battalion was able to resume work on the Mokmer airdrome. Two days later, Fifth Air Force P-40’s began operating from the 5,000-foot-long completed section of the strip. One of the three fields on Biak was at last operational

General Eichelberger, who had known for some time that he was to return to Hollandia (now, Jayapura) when he thought that the most important areas on Biak had been secured, decided on 27 June that he could leave and took his departure on the 28th.

Source

• US Army in WWII: The Approach to the Philippines
  CHAPTER XVI - Biak: The Reduction of the Japanese Pockets

Biak Island lay next in the line of General Mac Arthur’s sweeping advance. This island possessed one of the two remaining major groups of Japanese airdromes between Hollandia (now Jayapura) and Halmahera and therefore constituted a valuable military asset to the Allied scheme of operations.

On 27 May 1944 General Mac Arthur commands 4rst Division, less the 163rd Regimental Combat Team to made the first assault on Biak, they beach-landing and fired down at Bosnik on southern Biak by the Japanese defense.

Their immediate objectives were the three airdromes at Mokmer, Borokoe, and Sorido near the southwest coast of Biak.

The General Misjudgments

The US intelligence estimate put the Japanese defense at about 2000 troops. In actuality the island was defended by nearly 12,000 Japanese under the command of Colonel Naoyuki Kuzume, a long-time veteran whose first service was in China before the war began.

His forces included the veteran and excellently trained 222nd Regiment, as well as small units of light tanks, field artillery, anti-aircraft guns, and engineers and, a naval guard unit of 1500 men under the command of Rear Admiral Sadatoshi Senda. At Biak, Kuzume had 4.7″ and one 6″ gun for coastal defense in addition to his 75mm field guns.

In this instance, the Japanese had purposely withheld his main forces until the United States troops had advanced to the rugged terrain beyond the beaches. Then, from the dominating cliffs and caves overlooking the moving Allied columns, the Japanese launched a savage counterattack and, aided by 5-ton tanks, succeeded in driving a block between the beachheads and invading forces. Enemy frontal pressure increased considerably and a temporary retirement and regrouping on Owi island near on Southern Biak

For the Japanese defense of Biak, as General Eichelberger’s report described it, “was based on brilliant appreciation and use of the terrain.”

The situation remained critical, General Mac Arthur command Major General Fuller and his 41st Division on Operation Hurricane to take the island.

41st Division was brought in from Wakde to bolster and strengthened the United States positions in Biak, then they renewed its drive toward Mokmer at dawn on 2 June and, after several days of severe and violent fighting, they seized the important airdrome at Mokmer on 7 June.

Even then, the struggle continued unabated as the Japanese poured a heavy fire into the newly established airfield positions. It was another week before the strip could be brought into use.

Behind Enemy Lines

At first, the Imperial High Command wrote off Biak as a lost cause. But, because of Colonel Kuzume’s tenacious and effective defense it was decided to try and reinforce Biak and possibly even retake the island.

The Japanese made a determined effort to reinforce Biak Island; they assembled sufficient naval strength to destroy naval units under Mac Arthur’s control and sent about half their land-based aircraft in the Carolines and the Marianas to airfields in western New Guinea, where they were within easy range of Biak.

Between roughly on 1 June 1944 the Japanese started to send convoys of troops to Biak to reinforce it. Most met with failure and only about one or two thousand men arrived mostly without arms and equipment.

The Japanese then decided to make one last, serious effort to reinforce Biak before it fell. The operation was code named KON and scheduled for 22 June 1944. Operation KON was including the world biggest battleships ever built; Yamato, and her sibling Musashi to fight U.S. Marines in Northern New Guinea, Biak.

On 2 June, from eleven to fifteen Japanese planes bombed Allied positions on Biak and Owi Island, causing many red alert till 4 June

No sooner after this redeployment of naval and air forces been accomplished than the Japanese learned of the presence of the U.S. naval force in the Marianas, and the reinforcement was canceled.

On 3 June, The KON Operation was called off.

The forces were reassigned to assist the Combined Fleet in the Philippines Sea with Admiral Ozawa’s Mobile Fleet. This would become the battle of the Marianas and lead to the destruction of much of the remaining air strength of the Japanese Navy.

Latter on Biak, the Japanese defenders fought desperately “with no thought of withdrawal.” to retain the island without any naval or air reinforcement.

Kuzume also choose not to fight the US on the beaches. Instead, he hides the troops on honeycomb alike coral cliff that overlooked the coastal strip.

His forces denied the US use of the airfields his engineers were building and kept the US from construction of new ones. The jungle and rugged terrain kept US ground forces at bay almost as effectively as his on men did.

Japanese defenses made General Krueger, the U.S. Sixth Army Commander, did not declare the operation over until 20 August 1944.

Lieutenant Colonel Naoyuki Kuzume put up a fierce defense that included tanks, which was rare for Japanese troops in this theater of the Pacific War. Kuzume utilized his knowledge of the island’s topography and devised a brilliant defense plan that fully utilized the terrain.

His effective defense even rendered the airfields, newly captured by the Allies, useless.

Additional United States reinforcements were sent in and, despite the enemy’s fierce and valiant attempts to hold the remaining airfields at Sorido and Borokoe, the two strips were finally wrested from the Japanese.

The Rundown

On 28 Jun, Kuzume’s command post, located in one of the numerous caves, was breached. Frustrated American troops soon discovered the brutal tactic of simply dynamiting the caves, causing the cave roofs to collapse on the defenders hiding inside.

The Garrison Commander, Lieutenant Colonel Naoyuki Kuzume, committed seppuku (suicide) while the remaining caves continued to fight ferociously.

Old people in Biak which witnessing this sadistic action call to remember the use of gasoline barrels as bomb and fire-thrower. They also said that numbers of Allied Forced was burn alive because friendly fired and weapon malfunctions.

Mopping-up operations continued with amphibious shore-to-shore landings in August at Korim Bay, Wardo, and Warsa Bay. Other landings on Soepiori Island in September brought the campaign to a close.

After some of the most fanatical fighting of the Pacific War, The entire garrison of 11,400 men was wiped out on Biak. Some Japanese troops refused to surrender, and during the battle escaped into the jungle where they continued to sporadic resistance throughout the rest of the year until January, 1945.

Allied forced figures over 7,200 enemy killed by 20 January 1945 indicates the tenacity with which the Japanese fought to keep Biak from falling to the Allies, but according to Japanese and the evidences founded in Biak, there is more, a lot more.

Japan Biak War 1944

Biak turned out to be an important battle for another reason. It was the first time Japanese troops effectively used caves as defensive strongholds. Before this point, Japanese troops defended the islands at the beach; when all was lost, surviving troops formed a banzai charge, and the battle was over. After the battle, the Japanese began to include caves as an option, which dramatically increased American casualty rates during operations to secure the subsequent islands.

American Biak War 1994

The Americans, similar to other Pacific actions, lost more men from the front lines to diseases than deaths and battle wounds. Despite a lack of water, the poor allocation of U.S. forces, and the large number of the enemy troops defending, the American soldiers acquitted themselves very well to achieve a clear victory, under terrible conditions. Little publicity went to the sacrifice and achievement at Biak because individuals of the high command did not want to publicize their own mistakes.

Biak was an intense battle, fought in some of the most brutal terrain and enemy defenses of the Pacific theater.

Source

• The Undisclosed Truth Of Biak - May 27,1944
• Medical Department Activities in New Guinea
• Biak at Wikipedia(nl) Entries
• World War II Data Base, New Guinea Campaign
• American Military History, Chapter 23 - World War II: The War Against Japan
• American Military History, Mac Arthur Report, Chapter X - Western New Guinea Operations
• New Guinea, by Gordon R. Sullivan
• US Army in WWII: The Approach to the Philippines, Chapter XII, XII, XIV, XV, XVI

Srafa Inn will be opened by Biak Numfor Regent: Mr. Yusuf Melianus Maryen

Owned and operated by: Mr. Yan Pitter Huway the Comfort Inn hotel features 18 -units, a meeting space, and dinner/breakfast room.
All guestrooms feature king- or queen-size beds. Guests of the Comfort Inn hotel receive a complimentary Indonesian continental breakfast.

“We are the newest hotel in Macon County,”Mrs Sari Karma, the hotel’s front office supervisor. “We have all the amenities for modern with sleek, minimal interiors, business travelers, vacationers and those who just want to sit back and relax.”

Srafa Inn hotel is situated close to several nearby attractions including: Goa Binsar (Japanese Cave), Padaido Islands, Bird Of Paradise locations.