Watom Island

Location

Watom Island is an inhabited island in the Bismarck Sea in Papua New Guinea, located just off the mainland of the northern coast of New Britain, near Rabaul. It lies to the north-east of Urara Island. The island is almost entirely forested except for a few scattered settlements. The highest point of the island is approaching 320 metres. Watom's Wall, a "classic wall dive well", located on the northern coast, is a notable diving location.[1]

During World War II, the island served as a Prisoner of War camp for British soldiers captured at Singapore. Only 18 survived out of the original 600 shipped out on the Matsa Maru in November 1942. The last surviving 21 POWs were incarcerated on the island at the beginning of 1944, a further 3 dying by the end of the war leaving only 18 to return to civilization.

References

  1. Halstead, Bob; Rock, Tim (1 August 1999). Diving & snorkeling Papua New Guinea. Lonely Planet. p. 116. ISBN 978-0-86442-776-2. Retrieved 1 November 2011.

External links

Coordinates: 4°6′54″S 152°4′19″E / 4.11500°S 152.07194°E / -4.11500; 152.07194


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/26/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.