Deep in the jungle near the Keravat River, Pip Appel and Colin McInnes were acutely aware of their dire situation. During the afternoon of January 23 they safely led most of A and C Companies across the river, but none of the nearly three hundred men were prepared for a prolonged stay in the jungle. “Our first thought was for food and supplies for the troops,” McInnes later stated, “but as none had been placed in dumps for a situation such as this, we had to depend on missions, plantations and native villages.”
But such establishments were not equipped to cope with a sudden request to feed and shelter so many men. Therefore, the retreating Australians scrounged for whatever they could find, then continued walking northwest for mile after miserable mile. They worked their way around diamond-shaped Ataliklikun Bay toward the northern coast, where the terrain was slightly less demanding than in the mountains, but the going was still extremely slow.
Close behind them, the South Seas Detachment conducted the task of mopping up the plateau. Aware that many Australians were fleeing toward Ataliklikun Bay, Horii sent Lieutenant Colonel Tsukamoto’s 1st Battalion to pursue them. Likewise, the 3rd Battalion, encamped at Kokopo, was ordered to intercept Australians retreating southward toward the mouth of the Warangoi River.
The Imperial Japanese Navy also participated, sending warships and floatplanes to patrol New Britain’s coastline. They paid particular attention to the seaside plantations and mission stations, shelling some establishments—mainly for the purpose of intimidating the landowners—and destroying every seaworthy vessel that could be found. At Pondo, a large plantation owned by W. R. Carpenter and Company on the island’s north coast, the Japanese bombed and sunk a sixty-foot schooner. A landing party then went ashore and wrecked the steamer Malahuka, which was under repair on a slipway. To make sure it never sailed again, the Japanese also punched a large hole in the hull and disabled the engine.
Pressed hard by the pursuing Japanese, the remnants of Lark Force separated into small, disorganized groups. Already smarting from the lopsided defeat, they found themselves caught in a nightmarish environment. The jungle—hot, sticky, dark, and smelling of decay—was their only shelter. The Australians slept on the wet ground, hunger pangs gnawing at their bellies and insects biting their faces, arms, and legs. They scratched mindlessly at the bites, which then became infected and began to suppurate, slowing the men even more as their malnourished bodies tried to fight off the illness.
When Japanese patrols caught up with slow-moving parties, the outcome was often brutal. On January 26, Doc Silverman and his leading orderly, Bert Morgan, were trying to get beyond Ataliklikun Bay with Len Henry and a few other soldiers, one of whom had malaria. About three miles past the Keravat River, just after entering a foul-smelling mangrove swamp, they were ambushed by an enemy patrol. Morgan pulled his malaria patient into the swamp and hid with him until it was safe to emerge. Silverman and Henry were captured after a brief exchange of gunfire near Mandres Sawmill, and Henry was immediately beheaded. Silverman was alive when taken to Rabaul, but according to information gathered later, the Japanese refused to recognize him as a medical officer and executed him on January 30. By that time, Bert Morgan and his unidentified patient had decided to surrender. Captured soon after re-crossing the Keravat River, they were imprisoned at Rabaul.