Rabaul and Montevideo Maru Society

14/01/2026

04/10/2025

Celebrate the finale of this 50 th anniversary of png independence year with a relaxing circumnavigation of New Britain! Departing Madang 18 November 2025, join Max Uechtritz as stories are shared, islands explored and and the evenings sail into the horizon.
A rare opportunity to see places on the north and south coast of New Britain where some of the Australians in Rabaul, pre WWII, escaped, thrown into scenarios none expected and which has remained hidden for generations. Historians on board will be able to share more of this unique history which has touched generations of Australians. Please mention PNGAA or Rabaul and Montevideo Maru when booking as Pearl Expeditions are supporting our projects.
Pearl Expeditions Nicci Foulsham

25/01/2025

Frank Forde made the announcement about ‘the Battle for Australia’ following the fall of Rabaul on 23 January 1942. John Curtin followed with the same statement after the fall of Singapore on 15 February 1942
Ian Townsend, plays a recording of it in his interview about ‘The War We Forgot’ at: https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/earshot/the-war-we-forgot/9083624
If you move the audio to 2.50 minutes in you will hear the following:
‘Anniversary Day 1942 is a solemn day for Australia. For the first time in her history, an attack has been launched against her territory; for the first time her soil has been violated and the militia has probably seen battle’ .
Then, starting at about 3.24 mins in:
Following the Japanese invasion and occupation on 23 January 1942, the next day, Australia’s Acting Prime Minister and Minister for the Army, made an emergency broadcast, clearly stating - ‘the Battle for Australia has commenced.’

How does a nation forget a wartime catastrophe? When Japan invaded Australian territory in January 1942, hundreds of civilians were left behind to die. 75 years later, their families are still traumatised.

15/01/2025

The AWM has had a number of new objects from the Research Centre’s collections placed on display in the Second World War Galleries. These original items include letters from prisoners of war, including one from Thomas Walsh, who was a telephone technician with the Postmaster General’s Department in Rabaul. With New Britain coming under an increasing threat of attack, the 40-year-old Walsh joined the reservist New Guinea Volunteer Rifles and helped prepare Rabaul’s defences.
Air raids on Rabaul had started on 4 January. “Enemy planes have paid us daily visits & some are twice daily girls”, Walsh wrote to his mother Catherine.
Importantly he notes 'So the first Australian soil has been bombed.' After a couple of days of relative quiet, he informed her that “the peace was broken at noon today when a flock of J**s came over, and dropped a few eggs”.
Following the invasion and occupation of Rabaul on 23 January 1942, Walsh became a prisoner-of-war and embarked on the ill-fated Montevideo Maru five months later (not four months as the AWM write-up says). Accession Number: PR05259
See more at https://www.awm.gov.au/articles/blog/new-in-the-second-world-war-galleries

09/01/2025

2/22nd Battalion Association is having its annual service at the Melbourne Shrine at 12nn on Sunday 19 January 2025.
All are welcome.
The Shrine’s kitchen will provide sandwiches after the service at a small fee. To cover this cost, it would be appreciated if cash donations could be made on the day please.
With Frazer Harry Laurie Luxmoore Marg Curtis