A recent visit to the remote, uninhabited Kiska Island in the Bering Strait between Alaska and Russia was “beyond imagination” according to a Charles Sturt University archaeologist and historian.

 

Indeed it is hard to imagine a place where in summer it is always foggy or drizzling rain, the skies are overcast except for an occasional day, and there is constant, driving wind.

 

“The remoteness of the environment coupled with the visual experience of undulating green treeless hills and waist high, saturated grassy vegetation was an experience beyond imagination,” said A/Prof Spennemann, a principal researcher with CSU’s Institute for Land, Water and Society. “The visuals were so great they offset the difficult environmental conditions.”

 

A/Prof Spennemann will share his experience with a richly illustrated talk at a free public seminar on Thursday, October 25 from 6 to 7.30pm in the theatrette at the Army Museum at Bandiana, on the Murray Valley Highway, 4km east of Wodonga.

 

His lecture “Conflict in the Arctic: rem(a)inders of the Japanese invasion of Alaska” will focus on his visit to the island, one of the Aleutian Islands, and a national park that has been part of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge since 1913.

 

During World War 2 the Japanese temporarily captured the island and established a major military base, threatening to control Alaska. A/Prof Spennemann visited the island (a two day boat trip from the island of Adak) at the request of the US Fish and Wildlife Service to research the big guns and military relics left on the island after it was abandoned by the Japanese in 1943.

 

A/Prof Spennemann said he was amazed at the condition of the guns and other relics of the island. He explained that the combination of a covering of snow for nine months of the year and the constant overcast conditions which cut out ultra-violet rays for the other three months, provided exceptional conditions for preserving the relics.

 

“There is a mobile gun out there and the tyres, 65 years later, are fully inflated and look like they just came out of a shop,” said A/Prof Spennemann. “We are talking serious quality here. And because of the constant moisture even though it is an island in a marine environment, you don’t get deposits of salt which otherwise would accelerate corrosion.”

 

A/Prof Spennemann said his talk would cover his field work and the environment on Kiska Island, the gun types he found, the Japanese military preparations and strategies, and “what it all means in the bigger world.”

 

He admitted he approached the visit with some trepidation used to, as he is, field work in the tropics rather than in the Arctic.

“I was damp all the time but I was prepared and my equipment, cameras etc. performed better than I expected,” said A/Prof Spennemann.

 

“But I loved it and aim to go back to do a joint project with the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the US National Park Service working on all of the island’s heritage, not just the guns. Even though the island has Aleut (the indigenous people of the region) heritage sites, it hasn’t been inhabited since the mid 1800s which means you don’t have a ‘civilisation layer’. It’s  a military base pure and simple. That makes it unique.”

 

As light refreshments will be served after the talk, please RSVP to Kris Deegan on 02 6051 9992 or kdeegan@csu.edu.au by Monday, October 22.