Galway Advertiser 2004/2004_08_26/GA_2608_E1_010.pdf 

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10 N E W S

Galway Advertiser

August 26 2004

Tree of peace planted as former enemies embrace beside Galway Bay
BY RONNIE O'GORMAN In a week which sees the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Paris from the Nazis, there was an unusual if somewhat bizarre ceremony of reconciliation here on the shores of Galway Bay last Sunday. A Japanese gentleman, Akira Tsurukame, whose father had been killed when his submarine was blown up off the Malaysian coast in 1944 by the British submarine Telemachus, participated in a simple tree planting ceremony at Oranmore Castle, the home of Commander Bill King, the man who in the heat of battle killed his father. Also present was a Dutch woman Katja Boonstra, whose own father was killed in a Dutch submarine, sunk by Tsurukame father's submarine. And if you imagine that the meeting between these people was fraught with tension and old hatreds, you would be totally mistaken. The occasion was shared with Mr Tsurukame's wife Kay and their son Andre, Mrs Boonstra's three children Patrick, Claire and Jessica; Cmdr King and his daughter Leonie, and his granddaughter Heather. It was a mutual moment of warm friendship, relief, and hope for the future. It further appeared to mark the closure of at least one part of a long journey, a spiritual journey as well as one of research, travel and cost for the Tsurukame and Boonstra families. Even though both families are endeavouring to find the wrecks containing their fathers' remains, there was a real sense last Sunday afternoon that old comrades were deeply honoured, and the occasion brought visible peace and joy to the families involved. The tree, planted behind a sheltering wall close to the castle, was the crab apple "Everest." Leonie King said she wished it to be a tree of peace. Mr

Commander Bill King (right) embraces Katja Boonstra, whose father was killed when his submarine was sunk by the Japanese submarine I-166 on Christmas Day 1941. Also in the photo is Akira Tsurukame whose father was chief engineer on the I-166, and Katja's daughter Claire. Photo:- Mike Shaughnessy

Planting the Tree of Peace at Oranmore Castle on Sunday: (Back from left) Commander Bill King, Katja Boonstra, Akira Tsurukame, Leonie King, Heather Finn and Katja Boonstra. ( Front from left) Claire Boonstra, Andre Tsurukame, Jessica and Patrick Boonstra. Photo:- Mike Shaughnessy

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Tsurukame said that he admired Comdr. King, and recognised in him the devotion to duty that his father shared. "I respect you, I admire you", he said. Mrs Boonstra thanked everyone present for making the occasion happen. She was indebted to the hospitality she and her children had been shown. Cmdr King, now in his nineties, was visibly touched by it all. He said he was deeply moved. He quoted Joyce Kilmer: "Poems are made by fools like me/But only God can make a tree." The sinking of I-166 It was shortly after 7am on July 17 1944 when Cmdr Bill King's submarine Telemachus first spotted the Japanese submarine I166 moving along on the

surface at full speed four miles away in the Strait of Malacca, off the Malaysian coast. Enemy submarines were regarded as priority Telemachus targets. tracked her prey for 12 minutes and when it came within range of one mile Cmdr King, 29 years of age at the time, was confident he could hit it. In his acclaimed book The Stick and the Stars, he described the build up to the attack: There was a moment's silence in the submarine. You could hear the men breathe while they waited the order. "Stand by to fire numbers one, two, three, four, five, six tubes." After the order to fire the torpedoes shot towards their target, but in fact the sudden loss of weight caused the Telemachus to rise towards the surface. This movement probably

caused most of the torpedoes to be deflected from their target; but one struck home with a "shattering explosion." Five men on watch were thrown clear, but the remaining 88 men including Mr Akira Tsurukame's father, who was the chief engineer on the I-166, were killed. Strange odyssey Mr Akira Tsurukame, was three months old when his father was killed. As an adult he moved from Japan to California where he met his wife Kay and now lives with their son Andre. He has only one photograph of his father in uniform which was spotted by a dinner guest one evening in his home who happened to be an authority on the old Imperial Japanese Navy. One thing led to another until eventually Mr Tsurukame had a complete record of his father's service in the Japanese navy including the location where the submarine was sunk. Furthermore he received information on Cmdr King's Telemachus and a description from his book describing the sinking of the I-166. He read it repeatedly late into the night. " I felt I was watching a movie," he said. "I didn't feel any anger. I didn't feel any hatred. I admire the courage and leadership of Comdr.. King. I somehow felt my father in him." Later he and his wife visited the location where his father's submarine sank and laid a flower on the water's surface. Thinking that was the end of the matter, some

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months later he was in the Netherlands, and paid a visit to the memorial for submariners there. He knew from his research that on Christmas day 1941 his father's submarine sunk a Dutch submarine. He wrote a message into the visitors' book. His name and comments were seen by Katcha Boonstra, and she contacted the Tsurukames. Again there was no hatred or resentment on her part and they decided to see if they could contact any survivors of their particular tragedies. "We're just children of these men and its very important to find out what happened," she said. To their surprise they learnt that Cmdr King was still very much alive and living in Oranmore, Co Galway. An intermediary contacted the commander who agreed to the meeting. Last March Mr Tsurukame and Mrs Boonstra first came to Galway and stayed in a local B&B. On their first evening they walked towards the castle for a look. As they were walking Cmdr King's daughter Leonie drove up and asked them if they were lost. When she learnt who they were she invited them into the castle where Cmdr King was trying to warm up his dinner in a microwave. He invited them to sit down and share his meal. They agreed that night they would meet again with their children, and plant a tree in honour of their fathers, and the strange odyssey that had brought them all together. See Galway Diary page 78

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