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
Pollock
FORENAME
Francis Milligan
UNIT
2/1 Independent Company
RANK
Corporal
NUMBER
VX51076
DATE OF DEATH
1st July 1942
AGE
21
GRAVESITE
Rabaul Memorial,Papua New Guinea Panel 11
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
son of Francis Milligan and Elizabeth Riddell Pollock,East...
-
SURNAME
Pickford
FORENAME
William John
UNIT
2/1 Independent Company
RANK
Private
NUMBER
NX57238
DATE OF DEATH
1st July 1942
AGE
21
GRAVESITE
Rabaul Memorial,Papua New Guinea Panel 14
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
son of Charles and Leah Pickford,Newtown,New South Wales
POW...
-
SURNAME
Philpott
FORENAME
Alan Edward
UNIT
2/1 Independent Company
RANK
Sergeant
NUMBER
VX50161
DATE OF DEATH
1st July 1942
AGE
29
GRAVESITE
Rabaul Memorial,Papua New Guinea Panel 11
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
son of David Charles and Clara May Philpott,Geelong,Victoria
POW...
-
SURNAME
Petersen
FORENAME
Harvey James
UNIT
2/1 Independent Company
RANK
Private
NUMBER
QX7985
DATE OF DEATH
1st July 1942
AGE
23
GRAVESITE
Rabaul Memorial,Papua New Guinea Panel 14
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
son of Peter William and Kathleen Sarah Petersen,Harvey...
-
SURNAME
Pemble
FORENAME
Neville Thomas Francis
UNIT
2/1 Independent Company
RANK
Private
NUMBER
NX55192
DATE OF DEATH
1st July 1942
AGE
22
GRAVESITE
Rabaul Memorial,Papua New Guinea Panel 14
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
son of Charles Edward and Kate Pemble
POW 2.2.1942 at sea...
-
SURNAME
Pearce
FORENAME
Jack Norman
UNIT
2/1 Independent Company
RANK
Private
NUMBER
NX27364
DATE OF DEATH
1st July 1942
AGE
25
GRAVESITE
Rabaul Memorial,Papua New Guinea Panel 14
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
son of Jack and Christian Pearce,Leichhardt,New South Wales
POW...
-
SURNAME
Patterson
FORENAME
William Stuart
UNIT
2/1 Independent Company
RANK
Sergeant
NUMBER
VX20713
DATE OF DEATH
1st July 1942
AGE
31
GRAVESITE
Rabaul Memorial,Papua New Guinea Panel 11
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
son of Hugh and Grangie Stuart Patterson,Casterton,Victoria...
-
SURNAME
Patterson
FORENAME
Bruce George
UNIT
2/1 Independent Company
RANK
Private
NUMBER
NX36777
DATE OF DEATH
1st July 1942
AGE
22
GRAVESITE
Rabaul Memorial,Papua New Guinea Panel 14
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
son of George Henry William and Jessie Margaret Helen...
-
SURNAME
Paine
FORENAME
Robert Langsford
UNIT
2/1 Independent Company
RANK
Private
NUMBER
SX10876
DATE OF DEATH
1st July 1942
AGE
29
GRAVESITE
Rabaul Memorial,Papua New Guinea Panel 14
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
son of Arthur Robert and Alice Mary Paine,Bridgewater,South...
-
SURNAME
Olsen
FORENAME
Colin James
UNIT
2/1 Independent Company
RANK
Private
NUMBER
QX14904
DATE OF DEATH
1st July 1942
AGE
22
GRAVESITE
Rabaul Memorial,Papua New Guinea Panel 14
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
son of Samuel and Florence Olsen,Tuchekoi,Queensland
POW 2.2.1942 at...
-
SURNAME
Norton
FORENAME
Ronald Edmund George
UNIT
2/1 Independent Company
RANK
Private
NUMBER
VX48165
DATE OF DEATH
1st July 1942
AGE
23
GRAVESITE
Rabaul Memorial,Papua New Guinea Panel 14
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
son of Percy Victor and Ida Violet Norton,East...
-
SURNAME
Noonan
FORENAME
Alexis Patrick
UNIT
2/1 Independent Company
RANK
Corporal
NUMBER
SX6384
DATE OF DEATH
1st July 1942
AGE
28
GRAVESITE
Rabaul Memorial,Papua New Guinea Panel 11
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
son of Patrick Joseph and Bridget Anne Noonan,Georgetown,South...
-
SURNAME
Nolan
FORENAME
Charles
UNIT
2/1 Independent Company
RANK
Private
NUMBER
WX10520
DATE OF DEATH
1st July 1942
AGE
23
GRAVESITE
Rabaul Memorial,Papua New Guinea Panel 14
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
son of Charles William and Beatrice Nolan,Victoria Park,Western Australia...
-
SURNAME
Nicholson
FORENAME
Sydney Louis
UNIT
2/1 Independent Company
RANK
Private
NUMBER
NX66807
DATE OF DEATH
1st July 1942
AGE
21
GRAVESITE
Rabaul Memorial,Papua New Guinea Panel 13
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
son of Thomas and Nesta Violet Adele Nicholson,Merrylands,New...
-
SURNAME
Murray
FORENAME
Norman Joseph
UNIT
2/1 Independent Company
RANK
Private
NUMBER
VX35780
DATE OF DEATH
1st July 1942
AGE
34
GRAVESITE
Rabaul Memorial,Papua New Guinea Panel 13
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
son of John and Edith Isabel Murray,Kew,Victoria
POW 2.2.1942 at...
-
SURNAME
Munro
FORENAME
John Campbell
UNIT
2/1 Independent Company
RANK
Lance Corporal
NUMBER
NX65623
DATE OF DEATH
1st July 1942
AGE
34
GRAVESITE
Rabaul Memorial,Papua New Guinea Panel 12
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
son of George Ross and Geraldine Edith Munro,Unley...
-
SURNAME
Morton
FORENAME
William Edward
UNIT
2/1 Independent Company
RANK
Private
NUMBER
NX65604
DATE OF DEATH
1st July 1942
AGE
30
GRAVESITE
Rabaul Memorial,Papua New Guinea Panel 13
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
son of William Louis and Louisa Morton,Strathfield,New South...
-
SURNAME
Morell
FORENAME
John Francis
UNIT
2/1 Independent Company
RANK
Private
NUMBER
NGX466
DATE OF DEATH
1st July 1942
AGE
23
GRAVESITE
Rabaul Memorial,Papua New Guinea Panel 13
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
son of James Francis and Harriet Lucy Morell
husband of Bessie...
-
SURNAME
Moffat
FORENAME
Albert Edward
UNIT
2/1 Independent Company
RANK
Private
NUMBER
NX58485
DATE OF DEATH
1st July 1942
AGE
29
GRAVESITE
Rabaul Memorial,Papua New Guinea Panel 13
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
son of Thomas and Jessie Emily Moffat,Annandale,New South Wales...
-
SURNAME
Miller
FORENAME
Hamish Williamson
UNIT
2/1 Independent Company
RANK
Private
NUMBER
NX67436
DATE OF DEATH
1st July 1942
AGE
38
GRAVESITE
Rabaul Memorial,Papua New Guinea Panel 13
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
son of Kenneth Fraser and Margaret Jane Miller
husband of...