23 June 2012

Concerts to commemorate the Montevideo Maru sinking

| johnboy
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The Salvation Army have been in touch to let us know about a program of music they’re putting on in memory of their Salvation Army bandsmen who went down on the Montevideo Maru.

The unmarked Japanese prison ship was hit by a torpedo off the coast of the Phillipines by an American submarine, which is unaware of the Montevideo Maru’s human cargo.

Among the victims were Salvation Army bandsmen of the 2/22nd Battalion, predominantly from the Brunswick Citadel Band (Vic.), including renowned bandmaster Arthur Gullidge.

1 July 2012 marks 70 years since the horrific incident. In remembrance, the Governor-General will be takin part in dedicating a memorial at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra on 1 July.

As a way of recognising The Salvation Army’s loss in the disaster, the Melbourne Staff Band, the premier Salvation Army in Australia, (www.salvationarmy.org.au/msb) will be visiting Canberra to take part in the events.

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This has to be one of the most important “thank you, service personnel” of all the many 70th anniversaries commemorated at the AWM and down Anzac Parade this year.

There’s an Australian documentary:
http://www.montevideomaru.com.au/

I guess the silver lining is that these drowned Aussies avoided 3 years of maltreatment, torture, and summary execution at the hands of their thoroughly dishonourable Japanese captors.

A great-uncle of mine survived 3 years at the hands of the Japs. Weighed 47kg when rescued at the end of the war, saw most of his comrades arbitrarily starved, shot, and beheaded along the way.

The PoW display at the War Memorial does a great job of not varnishing over just how badly the Japanese behaved in WW2, although their even worse behaviour vis-a-vis the natives in New Guinea and elsewhere still needs more explicit documentation.

It’s on page 2 of the embedded release:

10.00am for the first bit.

Time of the service at the AWM?

Have you got details of the service? I knew many people who lost friends and relations in the sinking, including a long ago girlfriend in Rabaul who lost her father.

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