Bamban Hills was considered by the U.S. Army in their published Military Bulletin in August 1945 as “the most extensive tunnel defense ever fought in the Pacific outside of Okinawa.”. More than a thousand tunnels were constructed by the Japanese Imperial Forces in the Bamban-Clark area during the war.
Many of these were sealed during the ferocious battles, add the erosion and the passage of time, and now, only a fraction of those tunnels still open.
The Japanese defense line overlooking the highway of Bamban was anchored on the Bamban Hills, a series of hill-mass on rough terrain, where the Japanese fortified the high ground with series of tunnels with machine gun, mortars, automatic cannons and even light artilleries.
1945年1月、剣舞集団高山支隊星野舞台がバンバン丘陵を防衛した。
The Hoshino Butai, Takayama Detachment, Kembu Group defended these hills in January 1945. Elements of the 40th Division, U.S. Army, a battalion-size, engaged the Japanese defenders in a brutal fights. Most of the Japanese soldiers were killed in that engagement.
Bamban WWII Museum / Bamban Historical Society endeavor to locate and explore some of these closed tunnels, since 2000. The scenes of the activities in exploring the tunnels of Hoshino after opening are reflected on these images taken.
