wea
Company Stevedores, later increased to 100, assigned by CJTF~7.
When the choice of Eniwetok as the site of the operation
became known, it was evident that the native Marshallese population
of Eniwetok must be re-located elsewhere.
This task fell to the
Governor of the Marshall Islands, who is also Island Commander, Kwajalein.
Ujelang Atoll, lying about 125 miles southwest of Eniwetok, was
selected, and on 22 November a SeaBee working party from Kwajalein
moved into Ujelang and commenced construction of basic facilities -catchments, cisterns, latrines, tent-frames, etc.
Ujelang was then an
uninhabited but comparatively rich and fruitful atoll, its lack of popu-
lation being due to the fact that the Germans had removed all the
inhabitants and transformed the main island into a commercial coconut
(copra) plantation, and the Japanese continued this arrangement.
———~
Before the move could be initiated, it was of coursd necessary to
obtain the assent and agreement of the Eniwetok people, but until
the first announcement of the operation was released, it was not
possible to broach the subject to them.
This caused some concern,
since a-deadline date of 30 December had been set to complete
|
evacuation and start construction on Aomon and Blijiri Islands, and
it was desired to avoid undue precipitation.
On 3 December, immediately
after the first public announcement of the project, the Governor met
with the Eniwetok council, outlining the circumstances and asking
their agreement, to the move to Ujelang.
After a series of discussions
over a period of a week, and a visit to Ujelang by the two chiefs
SECTION X
.
3