MONTEVIDEO MARU 2024
Montevideo Maru Remembrance Service— Brisbane. Canberra service below Brisbane photos.
23 Assoc members, friends and descendants of those lost on the Montevideo Maru attended the Remembrance service held at ANZAC Square Brisbane on 1st July.
M.C. Paul Brown opened the service and introduced Phil Ainsworth for his welcoming address. Andrea Williams who was on the Fuego Equator (the ship that found the Montevideo Maru in 2023) at the time of the discovery then gave an address on the finding and her feelings when the resting place of Montevideo Maru was finally discovered.
This was followed by our Assn Patron, Maj Gen John Pearn AO. RFD. Then gave an address on reflections following the discovery of the vessel.
The Association Chaplain, Ron MacDonald, then followed up with prayers, wreaths were laid, the Last Post and Reveille were played by a bugler from the Salvation Army and the National anthem was sung.
Morning tea was then served with guests mingling and exchanging pleasantries.
Assn members present were Patron Maj Gen Pearn AO RFD, President Phil Ainsworth, Vice President Bob Collins, Secretary Colin Gould MBE, Welfare Officer and Museum Curator Paul Brown, Committee member Peter Rogers DFC, Chaplain Ron MacDonald and his wife Cheryl.
It was a very touching ceremony and our thanks to the organizer Paul Brown.
23 Assoc members, friends and descendants of those lost on the Montevideo Maru attended the Remembrance service held at ANZAC Square Brisbane on 1st July.
M.C. Paul Brown opened the service and introduced Phil Ainsworth for his welcoming address. Andrea Williams who was on the Fuego Equator (the ship that found the Montevideo Maru in 2023) at the time of the discovery then gave an address on the finding and her feelings when the resting place of Montevideo Maru was finally discovered.
This was followed by our Assn Patron, Maj Gen John Pearn AO. RFD. Then gave an address on reflections following the discovery of the vessel.
The Association Chaplain, Ron MacDonald, then followed up with prayers, wreaths were laid, the Last Post and Reveille were played by a bugler from the Salvation Army and the National anthem was sung.
Morning tea was then served with guests mingling and exchanging pleasantries.
Assn members present were Patron Maj Gen Pearn AO RFD, President Phil Ainsworth, Vice President Bob Collins, Secretary Colin Gould MBE, Welfare Officer and Museum Curator Paul Brown, Committee member Peter Rogers DFC, Chaplain Ron MacDonald and his wife Cheryl.
It was a very touching ceremony and our thanks to the organizer Paul Brown.
President Phil Ainsworth giving welcoming address
Patron Maj Gen Professor John Pearn AO. RFD. giving his reflections on the sinking of the Montevideo Maru.
Chaplain Ron MacDonald with prayers
Patron and President laying wreath.
President Australian Commando Assn, Qld. Mark Stanig after laying wreath.
153 men from the 1st Independent Coy, the first Australian Commando unit, were lost on the Montevideo Maru.
Montevideo Maru Memorial Service - AWM Canberra - The Last Post Ceremony
Monday, 1 July 2024, was another cold winter day in Canberra. The Last Post ceremony was held at the AWM to commemorate the anniversary of the sinking of the Montevideo Maru, considered Australia's greatest maritime disaster.
1,053 POWs and civilians were lost when the Japanese Ship was sunk by a US submarine on 1 July 1942.
The Last Post ceremony was conducted in a very professional and respectful manner. A speech was delivered by a female Mid-shipmen from ADFA in commemoration of one of the soldiers who died on the ship.
On behalf of PNGVR I laid a wreath and was one of six groups to lay wreathes at the ceremony. The piper who was standing with Raine Molony was Jen Haymer, a member of the AFP who has played the pipes at the war memorials in Bomana and Isurava, where Australian troops stopped the Japanese advance towards Port Moresby
Bill Moloney
Monday, 1 July 2024, was another cold winter day in Canberra. The Last Post ceremony was held at the AWM to commemorate the anniversary of the sinking of the Montevideo Maru, considered Australia's greatest maritime disaster.
1,053 POWs and civilians were lost when the Japanese Ship was sunk by a US submarine on 1 July 1942.
The Last Post ceremony was conducted in a very professional and respectful manner. A speech was delivered by a female Mid-shipmen from ADFA in commemoration of one of the soldiers who died on the ship.
On behalf of PNGVR I laid a wreath and was one of six groups to lay wreathes at the ceremony. The piper who was standing with Raine Molony was Jen Haymer, a member of the AFP who has played the pipes at the war memorials in Bomana and Isurava, where Australian troops stopped the Japanese advance towards Port Moresby
Bill Moloney
Above and below. Bill Molony (R) and Neil Gow laying the wreath. Both were Kiaps in PNG.
Lorraine (Raine) Molony with Piper Jen Haymer, a member of the AFP who has played the pipes at the war memorials in Bomana and Isurava
