RABAUL MEMORIAL
HISTORY INFORMATION
Between 1884 and 1914, New Britain was known as New Pomerania and part of German New Guinea. On the 11th September 1914, in one of Australia's first actions of the 1914-18 war, its troops seized the German wireless station at Bitapaka near Rabaul. After the war, the island became part of the Territory of New Guinea, which was an Australian mandated territory. The site of the wireless station became the War Cemetery.
In January 1942, after three weeks of air bombardment, Rabaul was attacked by the Japanese from the sea, and overwhelming odds soon broke the defence. It is estimated that against the original garrison of 1,400 the Japanese landed 17,000 men in the immediate vicinity of Rabaul. The defenders split into small groups and while some 400 managed to escape by sea a great number were killed or captured. Of the latter, some 160 were murdered by the Japanese near Tol in February, whilst most of the remainder, plus some 200 civilians, were drowned when the ship, the Montevideo Maru, was torpedoed and sunk whilst moving them to the Philippines. Nevertheless a number of the original garrison ran the gauntlet of the Japanese patrol and reached Australian territory in small vessels, overlooked when the Japanese commander sent destroyers steaming up and down the coast smashing all the boats to be found.
Small forces on New Ireland, which lies near and north-north-east of New Britain, had been attacked and overwhelmed on January 21st, 1942. It was not until November 1944 that New Britain was again the scene of fighting, when the 5th Australian Division landed at Jacquinot Bay, and the 11th Division at Wide Bay. The two Divisions cleared the north and south coasts and bottled up the enemy in the Gazelle Peninsula. Here the Japanese were contained until the final surrender in August 1945, when the number of their troops was found to be nearly 90,000.
The Rabaul Memorial commemorates over 1,200 members of the Australian Army (including personnel of the New Guinea and Papuan local forces and constabulary) and the Royal Australian Air Force, who lost their lives in New Britain and New Ireland in January and February 1942 or who were lost as a result of the sinking of the S.S. Montevideo Maru in July 1942 and those in New Britain from November 1944 to August 1945, who have no known grave. Men of the Royal Australian Navy who lost their lives in the south-western Pacific region and who have no graves but the sea, are commemorated on Plymouth Naval Memorial in England along with many of their comrades of the Royal Navy and other Commonwealth Naval Forces.
The Memorial takes the form of an avenue of stone pylons leading from the entrance building to the Cross of Sacrifice. Bronze panels bearing the names are affixed to the faces of the pylons. A central stone lectern at the commencement of the avenue carries a bronze plate with the following dedicatory inscription:
AD MAJOREM DEI GLORIAM
IN THIS PLACE ARE RECORDED THE NAMES OF OFFICERS AND MEN OF THE BRITISH COMMONWEALTH OF NATIONS WHO DIED DURING THE 1939-1945 WAR IN THE NEW BRITAIN AREA, ON LAND, AT SEA AND IN THE AIR, BUT TO WHOM THE FORTUNES OF WAR DENIED THE KNOWN AND HONOURED BURIAL GIVEN TO THEIR COMRADES IN DEATH
The memorial was unveiled in October 1953 by Field Marshal Sir William Slim, Governor-General of Australia.
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SURNAME
Stanton
FORENAME
Edward Coulton
UNIT
2/1 Independent Company
RANK
Lance Corporal
NUMBER
NX19908
DATE OF DEATH
1st July 1942
AGE
26
GRAVESITE
Rabaul Memorial,Papua New Guinea Panel 12
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
son of Arthur Ernest and Mary Jane Stanton,Artarmon,New...
-
SURNAME
Squire
FORENAME
John Bell
UNIT
2/1 Independent Company
RANK
Private
NUMBER
QX10246
DATE OF DEATH
1st July 1942
AGE
25
GRAVESITE
Rabaul Memorial,Papua New Guinea Panel 14
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
son of Eugene and Christina Mary Squire,Springsure,Queensland
POW...
-
SURNAME
Slaven
FORENAME
Bernard Joseph
UNIT
2/1 Independent Company
RANK
Private
NUMBER
NX54368
DATE OF DEATH
1st July 1942
AGE
25
GRAVESITE
Rabaul Memorial,Papua New Guinea Panel 14
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
son of Joseph and Elizabeth Slaven,Gooloogong,New South Wales
POW...
-
SURNAME
Sibraa
FORENAME
Lloyd Sylvester
UNIT
2/1 Independent Company
RANK
Private
NUMBER
NX34251
DATE OF DEATH
1st July 1942
AGE
23
GRAVESITE
Rabaul Memorial,Papua New Guinea Panel 14
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
son of Sylvester Neville and Evis Mabel Sibraa,Ashfield,New...
-
SURNAME
Sherwin
FORENAME
Harold Vicary
UNIT
2/1 Independent Company
RANK
Private
NUMBER
QX8417
DATE OF DEATH
1st July 1942
AGE
24
GRAVESITE
Rabaul Memorial,Papua New Guinea Panel 14
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
son of Henry Isaac and Emily Lucy Frances Sherwin,Glen...
-
SURNAME
Shaw
FORENAME
Thomas Allan
UNIT
2/1 Independent Company
RANK
Private
NUMBER
SX8367
DATE OF DEATH
1st July 1942
AGE
24
GRAVESITE
Rabaul Memorial,Papua New Guinea Panel 14
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
son of Alexander Henry and Josephine Lizette Shaw,Plympton,South...
-
SURNAME
Seater
FORENAME
Liege Louvaine
UNIT
2/1 Independent Company
RANK
Private
NUMBER
NX28414
DATE OF DEATH
1st July 1942
AGE
25
GRAVESITE
Rabaul Memorial,Papua New Guinea Panel 14
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
son of James and Sophie Elizabeth Seater,Bega,New South Wales
POW...
-
SURNAME
Searcy
FORENAME
Maurice Roff
UNIT
2/1 Independent Company
RANK
Private
NUMBER
SX10212
DATE OF DEATH
1st July 1942
AGE
37
GRAVESITE
Rabaul Memorial,Papua New Guinea Panel 14
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
son of John Edwin and Elizabeth Searcy,College Park,South Australia...
-
SURNAME
Schiffmann
FORENAME
Harry Francis
UNIT
2/1 Independent Company
RANK
Private
NUMBER
NX40995
DATE OF DEATH
1st July 1942
AGE
38
GRAVESITE
Rabaul Memorial,Papua New Guinea Panel 14
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
son of Frederick and Elizabeth Julia...
-
SURNAME
Sauer
FORENAME
Clyde Albert
UNIT
2/1 Independent Company
RANK
Private
NUMBER
WX211
DATE OF DEATH
1st July 1942
AGE
23
GRAVESITE
Rabaul Memorial,Papua New Guinea Panel 14
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
son of Joseph Emil and Elizabeth Sauer,Kalgoorlie,Western Australia...
-
SURNAME
Sampson
FORENAME
Kenneth James
UNIT
2/1 Independent Company
RANK
Private
NUMBER
VX35106
DATE OF DEATH
1st July 1942
AGE
22
GRAVESITE
Rabaul Memorial,Papua New Guinea Panel 14
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
son of John and Margaret Sampson,East Malvern,Victoria
POW...
-
SURNAME
Sadler
FORENAME
Frederick Herbert
UNIT
2/1 Independent Company
RANK
Corporal
NUMBER
NX68342
DATE OF DEATH
1st July 1942
AGE
36
GRAVESITE
Rabaul Memorial,Papua New Guinea Panel 11
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
son of Samuel Edward and Martha Eliza Sadler,Dubbo,New South...
-
SURNAME
Roberts
FORENAME
Samuel Livingstone
UNIT
2/1 Independent Company
RANK
Private
NUMBER
NX69464
DATE OF DEATH
1st July 1942
AGE
24
GRAVESITE
Rabaul Memorial,Papua New Guinea Panel 14
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
son of Tom and Lillias Martha Roberts
POW 2.2.1942 at sea...
-
SURNAME
Roberts
FORENAME
Richard Stanford
UNIT
2/1 Independent Company
RANK
Sergeant
NUMBER
SX2804
DATE OF DEATH
1st July 1942
AGE
27
GRAVESITE
Rabaul Memorial,Papua New Guinea Panel 11
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
son of Ernest Richards and Sarah Frances Roberts,North...
-
SURNAME
Riedell
FORENAME
Lyndsay Gordon
UNIT
2/1 Independent Company
RANK
Private
NUMBER
VX47467
DATE OF DEATH
1st July 1942
AGE
21
GRAVESITE
Rabaul Memorial,Papua New Guinea Panel 14
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
son of William Arnold and Annie McFarland...
-
SURNAME
Reeve
FORENAME
Sydney James Gordon
UNIT
2/1 Independent Company
RANK
Corporal
NUMBER
NX46731
DATE OF DEATH
1st July 1942
AGE
22
GRAVESITE
Rabaul Memorial,Papua New Guinea Panel 11
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
son of S.C. and Mrs Reeve,Raymond Terrace,New South Wales...
-
SURNAME
Reed
FORENAME
Gordon Bradley
UNIT
2/1 Independent Company
RANK
Corporal
NUMBER
VX20657
DATE OF DEATH
1st July 1942
AGE
31
GRAVESITE
Rabaul Memorial,Papua New Guinea Panel 11
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
son of Arthur James Bradley and Beatrice Reed,Bungowannah,New...
-
SURNAME
Ramsay
FORENAME
Kenelm Mackenzie
UNIT
2/1 Independent Company
RANK
Corporal
NUMBER
NX25468
DATE OF DEATH
1st July 1942
AGE
27
GRAVESITE
Rabaul Memorial,Papua New Guinea Panel 11
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
son of Kenelm Kierston and Jessie Gwendolene Ramsay,Bellevue...
-
SURNAME
Rae
FORENAME
Frederick Martin
UNIT
2/1 Independent Company
RANK
Private
NUMBER
NX36268
DATE OF DEATH
1st July 1942
AGE
29
GRAVESITE
Rabaul Memorial,Papua New Guinea Panel 14
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
son of Henry Moncrieff and Lydia Rae,Bendigo,Victoria
POW 2.2.1942...
-
SURNAME
Potter
FORENAME
Roy
UNIT
2/1 Independent Company
RANK
Private
NUMBER
VX25166
DATE OF DEATH
1st July 1942
AGE
24
GRAVESITE
Rabaul Memorial,Papua New Guinea Panel 14
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
son of Arthur Edward and Amy Laura Beatrice Potter,Thornbury,Victoria
POW...