Our Stories

Sisters WWII Ministry Caught in Crossfire

by Susan Kroeger

Responding to a request from Bishop Thomas Wade, in 1940 Mother Louis Bachand asked for volunteers to go to the Solomon Islands. Forty sisters responded, and four were chosen: Sisters Isabelle Aubin, Celestine Belanger, Irene Alton, and Hedda Jaeger. The sisters left the U.S. out of San Pedro in September for a three-month journey with stops in Figi, Pago Pago, Samoa, New Zealand and Australia, before reaching their final destination of Hanahan on Buka Island, where they served for one year in peace before war broke out. At the time, Buka was part of the Solomon Islands and was considered a province of the United Kingdom. Alarming reports of hostilities from Germany and Japan were of some concern. Then on December 7, 1941, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. The U.S. was now engaged in World War II, literally putting the sisters in the middle of the war in the Pacific.

“We will remain at our station,” was the reply from the missionary sisters to the Australian government ten days later when they were asked if they would like to evacuate. Women and children were being forcibly evacuated from the Solomon Islands, but missionaries were exempt. Although they were strongly encouraged to leave, they felt at home in Hanahan. They tended the sick, taught school and provided spiritual direction. Despite a lack of supplies and very real deprivations, there was no doubt that the missionary sisters loved their work and the people they served. However, being in the middle of the Pacific theater during a time of war began to intrude on their idyllic setting.

In March 1942, the sisters’ ministry was shattered when World War II reached the convent doorsteps. Japanese warships dropped anchor not far from their station. A local priest was taken prisoner and not heard from again. Plantations were burned, and their owners were killed. The sisters were in grave danger and spent several days in hiding. The U.S. Navy ordered their evacuation on March 19 (the feast day of St. Joseph) in reaction to a major incursion of the Japanese Navy landing thousands of troops. The sisters traveled 23 harrowing miles by bicycle to board a launch that would take them to the relative safety of Bougainville. Within hours of their arrival, Japanese cruisers arrived off shore. The sisters were forced to keep moving, wading through swamps and climbing mountains in mud-caked white habits to reach the interior of the island.

The U.S. counter attack at Guadalcanal in October caused Japanese reprisals on the island’s population, including missionaries. There were reports of terrible atrocities committed upon priests, nuns and natives helping allied forces. Once again, the sisters were on the move. Accompanied by a priest, they boarded a canoe and slipped away into the night, silently maneuvering past two Japanese bases. Their destination was Tsipotavi, a jungle village used as a hide-out for nuns and priests. They reached the shore at 3:30 a.m. and trekked across rivers and mountain passages to reach Tsipotavi. When the sisters arrived, they still needed to hide in the bush numerous times during the day to avoid the savvy Japanese patrols. Ever-devoted to the Sisters, the natives continued to hide them and warn them of trouble.

In December 1942, Japanese orders had gone out that missionaries were to be captured. In response to radio requests for evacuation, U.S. Admiral William Halsey commanded “Get those sisters out!” Traveling with 29 other missionaries, the exhausted sisters rendezvoused with a U.S. submarine, the Nautilus, stationed five miles off shore. Natives and servicemen ferried the missionaries aboard the sub by canoe and raft. The Nautilus left on New Year’s Day, 1943 just hours ahead of Japanese forces. They traveled for four days in the tense environment of the sub until they could transfer to a large transport, the Hunter Ligget. Reaching Auckland, New Zealand, the sisters then boarded the West Point, a ship bound for the U.S. Along the way servicemen described the war and what happened during the sisters’ three-year absence from the United States.

Back in Southern California, the community had received no word from their missionaries for almost a year. Although they prayed diligently and tried unsuccessfully to reach their missionary sisters, they heard nothing and thought their dear sisters had died. The sisters arrived in San Francisco Bay on January 30, 1943, and on February 4 they were transported to the Notre Dame Des Victoires School by Red Cross wagon. The sisters who taught there were having their Sunday lunch and were unaccustomed to receiving visitors at that time. The sister who opened the door stared aghast at the four bedraggled women clad in stained white habits and tennis shoes. When the missionaries walked into the dining room, all talk ceased momentarily. Then wild bursts of laughter and screams ensued. Following the war, Sisters Irene and Celestine returned to the islands to reestablish the school and hospital.