Victory in the Pacific Day: 75th anniversary of WWII
He’s lived to the ripe old age of 95, but as the world marks three-quarters of a century since the end of World War II, this Queensland veteran has recalled the time he almost died young.
QLD News
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In a Buddhist temple on the coast of Wakayama, navy veteran David Mattiske stood some months after the end of World War II looking at a handful of small, framed photographs of dead Japanese sailors on an altar.
It was one of the many moments Mr Mattiske, now 95, will recall 75 years later on the anniversary of the end of the war today.
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After years at sea in the Pacific aboard HMAS Shropshire surviving through over 15 battles including the Battle of Surigao Strait, Leyte Gulf and Lingayen Gulf, Mr Mattiske in the weeks following Japan’s surrender would see “acres and acres of ash” as women and children fossicked through what little remained of their homes in Tokyo after Allied forces had burnt it to the ground.
It was a moving and historic end to the months of kamikazes barrelling through the skies relentlessly above Shropshire as sister ships such as HMAS Australia were hit repeatedly.
The framed photos on the altar were a stark reminder of the fate Mr Mattiske could have been dealt, after the kamikazes narrowly missed Shropshire.
“The kamikazes were there all the time, all day long. They were a stupid weapon in many ways, but they were prepared to die for the emperor,” said Mr Mattiske, who now lives on the Gold Coast.
“We got a call to our battle stations...a turret on the front was all locked up, all the hatches, everything gets battered down watertight. I’m thinking ‘where is he? I can see him coming around. I’ll stand here for the minute. Which way will I run if he comes for us?’
“There was another American battleship on our side a few hundred yards away. I’m watching him closely, his wings moving and finally as he got closer he turned that way and he went for the American ship, hit the American on the bridge structure, bang, splashing, made a hell of a mess and I thought ‘thank God for that.’”
It was one of the many times the crew suffered through devastating battles, with their Captain Nicholls ordering them to “keep firing right to the last shot” – a command that went hand-in-hand with General Macarthur’s aim to dominate the Pacific.
“Before we went into Lingayen Gulf, we knew that the kamikazes were going to be at their height – you knew what was going to happen,” he said.
“On the way through from Leyte, it was going to take three days trip to get around to where the next attack took place. The Australia got hit, one of the aircraft carriers got hit and sunk. “Kamikazes were everywhere and we all thought when we actually get to the operation stage, it’s going to be pretty tough.”
Later, Mr Mattiske would hear the news over the loudspeakers that an atomic bomb had been dropped on Hiroshima – it was nearly over, the crew breathed a sigh of relief.
The pivotal moments in the young navy seaman’s life that allowed him to see the war from the other side, resulted in him over 70 years later being memorialised in the Battle of Surigao Strait Memorial and Museum site at
Punta Bilar which overlooks Surigao Strait, for his desire to never see a world war again.
“I just can’t imagine what would happen in the future if they came to blows over any issue in the future,” he said.
“The way people treat each other when they go to war is just unbelievable. What the Japanese did to our prisoners of war – absolutely frightful. And then what happened in Tokyo…There could have been 110,000 to 120,000 deaths, they’ll never know. The whole city broke down.
“It was terrible and that’s what we did to them. And we saw it.
“We just can’t allow it to happen again.”