The final postscript of one of Australia’s most tragic World War II tales has unfolded in Oslo, where the King of Norway sat with the descendants of those who died on a once-lost ship.
The final postscript of one of Australia’s most tragic tales has played out in Oslo as the King of Norway paid tribute to our nation’s efforts to solve a mystery that also haunted him and his people for more than eight decades.
Well below deck were 1060 manacled prisoners of war bound for the work camps of Japan – most of them survivors of the Japanese invasion of Rabaul in Papua New Guinea. Of these, some 980 were Australians: soldiers, civilians and missionaries. After stalking the ship for 20 minutes, and with the Montevideo Maru now at a distance of 4000 yards and closing, Commander Wright gave the order at 2.20am in his authoritative, calm voice: “Fire one.”The first of four torpedoes raced towards the ship, and Commander Wright was able to get his periscope in time to see two of them hit.
Thursday evening’s gathering at the Oslo Seamen’s Association was a commemorative dinner to honour the lost Norwegian war sailors, which brought together many of the descendants of those sailors with some of the Australians who led the search. “But on the other side, there was the realisation that after 81 years, we were looking at the grave site of nearly 1100 people who died in the most terrible circumstances,” he said.Listening particularly raptly was the most honoured guest of the evening, Norway’s King Harald V.
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