Watom Island is an inhabited island in the

Bismarck Sea The Bismarck Sea (, ) lies in the southwestern Pacific Ocean within the nation of Papua New Guinea. It is located northeast of the island of New Guinea and south of the Bismarck Archipelago. It has coastlines in districts of the Islands Regi ...

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

, located just off the mainland of the northern coast of New Britain, near Rabaul. It lies to the north-east of Urara Island. The island is almost entirely forested except for a few scattered settlements. The highest point of the island approaches 320 metres. Watom's Wall, a "classic wall dive well", located on the northern coast, is a notable diving location. The island is administered under Watom Island Rural LLG in

East New Britain Province East New Britain is a province of Papua New Guinea, consisting of the north-eastern part of the island of New Britain and the Duke of York Islands. The capital of the province is Kokopo, not far from the old capital of Rabaul, which was largely d ...

. During World War II, the island served as a prisoner of war camp for British soldiers captured at Singapore. Only 18 survived out of the original 600 shipped out on the ''Matsa Maru'' in November 1942. The last surviving 21 POWs were incarcerated on the island at the beginning of 1944, a further three dying by the end of the war leaving only 18 to return home.

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Google Earth
Islands of New Britain East New Britain Province Papua New Guinea in World War II Uninhabited islands of Papua New Guinea {{PapuaNewGuinea-island-stub