Wotje Atoll 26 | Gazza 700

Wotje Atoll

Wotje’s wartime history remains unusually visible. The island became a heavily fortified Japanese base during the Second World War, protected by coastal guns, bunkers and defensive positions. Many of those structures still stand among the modern settlement, slowly deteriorating in the tropical environment. These photographs explore the physical remains of that conflict alongside the community life that has grown around them.

Wotje’s Jarin Rarik Dron church, part of the United Church of Christ–Congregational tradition, stands at the centre of the island’s religious and community life.

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A Japanese Type 89 twin-mount gun stands rusting among Wotje’s coconut palms and modern houses, its barrels pocked with holes left by US aircraft machine guns but still directed toward the approaches it was built to defend.

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