How Died
POW. Captured at Kokopo Hospital. He, with other Australian POWs, was on the ill-fated Montevideo Maru which was torpedoed by a US Submarine USS Sturgeon on the 1 July 1942.
Notes
Born 4/8/1908 Sydney, NSW. Son of Ralph and Matilda Fernandez of Sydney, NSW. With the sinking of the Montevideo Maru - Australia suffered the greatest single tragedy of the war in the Pacific. The fate of those who had embarked at Rabaul on the Japanese Naval auxiliary transport on the 22 Jun 1942, remained a mystery for three years, though the remaining internees learned on the tragedy on 11 July 1942. Prior to boarding, all had been living under primitive conditions, subjected to brutalities and indignities, and under bombardment by the RAAF planes while at forced labour in the Blanche Bay area and in the unmarked compound. At the end of May 1942, the Japanese Army handed the Camp over to the Navy, in preparation for drill thought to be for the invasion of mainland New Guinea. At about 4.30am on 22 June 1942, Japanese marines and guards roused the camp and organised the internees into parties of 50. The officers and a dozen or so civilians were retained in the camp. It was learned from one of the guards, the the transfer was to the island of HAINAN, off the coast of China. Half starved and ill, the men marched from the compound at 9.00am, with a smile and a cheery farewell for those remaining - the stronger supporting the weaker, arm in arm as they boarded the ship. Final recognition of the sinking was acknowledged in a letter from the Japanese Navy dated 6 September 1943, as a result of enquiries by the Australian Government through the Protecting Power, but the enquiry had at that time been ignored.
John Monash (Monasch) born
in Melbourne, Australia on 27 June 1865, the son of
German Polish Jewish migrants, can be researched in any
military history encyclopaedia or in fact by just
‘Googling’ his name on the internet. His history
and list of achievements are long and far too many to detail
in this brief summary. However, might I say that reading his
history is well worth the effort and I can assure you that
his deeds will amaze you. I have found that the deeds are
better labelled on more than one man and in more than one
lifetime.
An
announcement was made in the weeks leading up to the
Centenary of ANZAC by Judy Landau, President VAJEX Aust.
She stated that it gave her great delight to announce
that VAJEX Aust (Victorian Association of Jewish Ex
& Servicemen & Women Australia Inc) has
successfully raised the required funds to build a new
Victorian Jewish Memorial after the style of the
historic Memorial located in the Jewish section of the
Melbourne General Cemetery. After an extensive two year
process, Judy has single-handedly sought letters of
support, raised the funds, and obtained approval from
the City of Port Phillip.