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
Hyatt
FORENAME
John Richard
UNIT
2/1 Independent Company
RANK
Private
NUMBER
NX41342
DATE OF DEATH
1st July 1942
AGE
24
GRAVESITE
Rabaul Memorial,Papua New Guinea Panel 13
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
son of William and Margaret Hyatt,Glen Innes,New South Wales
POW...
-
SURNAME
Hughes
FORENAME
Frederick Russell
UNIT
2/1 Independent Company
RANK
Private
NUMBER
VX34527
DATE OF DEATH
1st July 1942
AGE
28
GRAVESITE
Rabaul Memorial,Papua New Guinea Panel 13
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
son of John Henderson and Cristina Hughes,Maryborough,Victoria...
-
SURNAME
Hottes
FORENAME
Eric Stanley
UNIT
2/1 Independent Company
RANK
Lance Corporal
NUMBER
NX41382
DATE OF DEATH
1st July 1942
AGE
34
GRAVESITE
Rabaul Memorial,Papua New Guinea Panel 12
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
son of Benjamin and Elizabeth Amelia Hottes,Glen Innes,New...
-
SURNAME
Hopkins
FORENAME
Frederick Edward
UNIT
2/1 Independent Company
RANK
Private
NUMBER
NX54986
DATE OF DEATH
1st July 1942
AGE
27
GRAVESITE
Rabaul Memorial,Papua New Guinea Panel 13
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
son of Frederick William and Daisy Hopkins,Rockdale,New South...
-
SURNAME
Hogan
FORENAME
Arthur James
UNIT
2/1 Independent Company
RANK
Private
NUMBER
NX66115
DATE OF DEATH
1st July 1942
AGE
23
GRAVESITE
Rabaul Memorial,Papua New Guinea Panel 13
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
son of G. and Mrs Hogan,Bankstown,New South Wales
POW 2.2.1942 at...
-
SURNAME
Hobbs
FORENAME
Harry
UNIT
2/1 Independent Company
RANK
Corporal
NUMBER
SX2773
DATE OF DEATH
1st July 1942
AGE
24
GRAVESITE
Rabaul Memorial,Papua New Guinea Panel 11
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
son of Edward Roy and Hilda Hobbs
husband of Ivy Lealo Hobbs,Murray...
-
SURNAME
Highland
FORENAME
Charles
UNIT
2/1 Independent Company
RANK
Private
NUMBER
QX15058
DATE OF DEATH
1st July 1942
AGE
31
GRAVESITE
Rabaul Memorial,Papua New Guinea Panel 13
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
son of Frederick and Selena Highland,Bundaberg,Queensland
POW 2.2.1942...
-
SURNAME
Henson
FORENAME
Colin Francis
UNIT
2/1 Independent Company
RANK
Private
NUMBER
WX9744
DATE OF DEATH
1st July 1942
AGE
29
GRAVESITE
Rabaul Memorial,Papua New Guinea Panel 13
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
son of Francis Edward John and Jane Henson,Mount Lawley,Western...
-
SURNAME
Henry
FORENAME
John Killduff
UNIT
2/1 Independent Company
RANK
Private
NUMBER
NX68641
DATE OF DEATH
1st July 1942
AGE
22
GRAVESITE
Rabaul Memorial,Papua New Guinea Panel 13
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
son of Alfred Edwin and Ellen Emily Henry,Abbotsford Point,New...
-
SURNAME
Hellman
FORENAME
Richard Elsdon
UNIT
2/1 Independent Company
RANK
Private
NUMBER
NX55152
DATE OF DEATH
1st July 1942
AGE
22
GRAVESITE
Rabaul Memorial,Papua New Guinea Panel 13
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
son of R.V. and Kathleen Hellman,Ashfield,New South Wales
POW...
-
SURNAME
Harvey
FORENAME
Cleland Ross
UNIT
2/1 Independent Company
RANK
Warrant Officer Second Class
NUMBER
SX2676
DATE OF DEATH
1st July 1942
AGE
33
GRAVESITE
Rabaul Memorial,Papua New Guinea Panel 11
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
son of Alfred James and Edith May...
-
SURNAME
Harrison
FORENAME
Robert
UNIT
2/1 Independent Company
RANK
Private
NUMBER
QX1877
DATE OF DEATH
1st July 1942
AGE
22
GRAVESITE
Rabaul Memorial,Papua New Guinea Panel 13
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
son of Thomas Glenroy and Florence May Harrison,Speers Point,New South...
-
SURNAME
Harman
FORENAME
Roy Arthur
UNIT
2/1 Independent Company
RANK
Corporal
NUMBER
VX36997
DATE OF DEATH
1st July 1942
AGE
23
GRAVESITE
Rabaul Memorial,Papua New Guinea Panel 11
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
son of Arthur and Amy Harman
husband of Stella Mary Isabel...
-
SURNAME
Hannay
FORENAME
James Douglas
UNIT
2/1 Independent Company
RANK
Sergeant
NUMBER
NX26379
DATE OF DEATH
1st July 1942
AGE
24
GRAVESITE
Rabaul Memorial,Papua New Guinea Panel 11
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
son of Keith and Minnie Hannay,Lindfield,New South Wales
POW...
-
SURNAME
Gulliford
FORENAME
Hugh Alexander
UNIT
2/1 Independent Company
RANK
Private
NUMBER
NX51811
DATE OF DEATH
1st July 1942
AGE
25
GRAVESITE
Rabaul Memorial,Papua New Guinea Panel 13
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
son of Hugh John and Mary Gulliford,Chatswood,New South Wales...
-
SURNAME
Godfrey
FORENAME
Thomas Geoffrey
UNIT
2/1 Independent Company
RANK
Private
NUMBER
VX51750
DATE OF DEATH
1st July 1942
AGE
19
GRAVESITE
Rabaul Memorial,Papua New Guinea Panel 13
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
son of Thomas Alfred and Aimee Josephine...
-
SURNAME
Glasson
FORENAME
Richard Cecil
UNIT
2/1 Independent Company
RANK
Private
NUMBER
NX53322
DATE OF DEATH
1st July 1942
AGE
19
GRAVESITE
Rabaul Memorial,Papua New Guinea Panel 13
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
son of Eric Hylton and Martha Glasson
husband of Emma...
-
SURNAME
Ghiggioli
FORENAME
Ernest Keith
UNIT
2/1 Independent Company
RANK
Lance Corporal
NUMBER
NX36559
DATE OF DEATH
1st July 1942
AGE
23
GRAVESITE
Rabaul Memorial,Papua New Guinea Panel 12
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
son of Albert Arthur and Amy V. Ghiggioli,Mangoplah,New...
-
SURNAME
Geyer
FORENAME
Kevin Victor
UNIT
2/1 Independent Company
RANK
Lance Corporal
NUMBER
NX47935
DATE OF DEATH
1st July 1942
AGE
24
GRAVESITE
Rabaul Memorial,Papua New Guinea Panel 12
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
son of Godfrey William and Harriett Geyer,Tenterfield,New...
-
SURNAME
George
FORENAME
Arthur John
UNIT
2/1 Independent Company
RANK
Private
NUMBER
NX41372
DATE OF DEATH
1st July 1942
AGE
22
GRAVESITE
Rabaul Memorial,Papua New Guinea Panel 13
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
son of Edward and Ida George,Glen Innes,New South Wales
POW 2.2.1942...