John “Skip” Bailey

15.2
Skip Bailey Found

An undated report by Lieutenant Colonel R. A. Houghton of the Imperial War Graves Commission detailed the search for missing allied personnel on New Britain between 19th June 1950 and 21st July 1950. The search was conducted in the Matupi and Rabaul districts by the RAAF searcher team led by Keith Rundle.

The accounts of two natives, Toninuea and Toman, who witnessed an execution, led to the recovery of twenty four bodies in 1946. This execution took place in 1944 and he described finding cotton wool impregnated with the smell of anesthetic, used to subdue the prisoners.

After searching the Kokope area and finding twelve unidentified bodies in all, the search party moved to the Matupi area. The area yielded the remains of fifteen RAAF personnel, twelve United States personnel and one civilian.

The search in 1950, at the foot of the Matupi volcanic crater led to the location of six mass graves. As the twelve acre area being searched was covered in tall Kunai grass, the searchers burnt off the grass and sectioned off the area to allow a thorough search. The searchers then used thin iron rods to probe the surface and where the rod sank easily into the soil the ground that had obviously been disturbed. Excavations then began on these disturbed areas.

The exact location of the graves near the Matupi volcanic crater was at map reference Matupi Map Reference Praed Point 843 332 shown below.

Map reference Praed Point 843 332 [48]

This information was obtained from a Summary of File – Matupi Executions which was compiled for War Crimes Trials in Rabaul.

War Crimes – Summary of File [49]

In the first of these excavations, the remains of W/O John Pretty Bailey (RAAF) were found. Also found was 1st Lieutenant Philip Louis Bek (USAAF) (see above) and two unidentified American airmen. The positive identification of Skip and Bek was established by identity discs found in the grave and in the case of Skip, his dental records as well.

Mass Grave Location 1 [50]

The finding of Skip and Bek in the same grave, further leads to the conclusion that they were together on the same truck that left the prison camp. The cause of death for all four deceased was decapitation and their legs and arms had been tied with wire when found.

The many sightings of Skip being transported from the POW camp varied in the detail of who was with him on the truck with the Japanese guards. Most accounts say that the trucks were loaded with twelve prisoners and twelve Japanese guards. Some witnesses stated he was with another Australian and another stated he was the only Australian with American prisoners that included Lieutenant Bek. The fact that he alone was buried with Bek and two other American flyers tends to support the latter view. But it raises the question of where the other eight remaining POWs on the truck were buried?

An eyewitness, Captain John Joseph Murphy AIF (Australian Imperial Force) said he remembered seeing Skip with his crew, the two Vincents and a F/Lt, who had been shot down in the sea in Nov. or Dec 43. Before he left the camp the two Vincents and W/O Bailey were put onto a truck with some U.S. airmen, all to go to Tokio (Tokyo). His account should be viewed as highly improbable as all three men would have been executed together and placed in the same grave location. [In Capt. Murphy’s statement he also describes the horrendous conditions the POWs suffered whilst interned.]

F/Lt Geoffrey Hubert Vincent body was also found nearby Skip’s but not in the same grave. His date of death was believed to be 14th January 1944.

Mass Grave Location 3 [51]

The grave of F/O Charles William Vincent was never found. He may have been the unidentified RAAF body found in the grave with F/Lt. Vincent, but as he was born in England, dental records may not have been available to the RAAF searchers at the time.

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[48] War Department – Corps of Engineers U.S. Army
[49] - [51] National Archives of Australia