| Places | |
|---|---|
| Accession Number | P02312.003 |
| Collection type | Photograph |
| Object type | Black & white |
| Physical description | Black & white |
| Place made | Pacific Islands: Bismarck Archipelago, New Britain, Gazelle Peninsula, Rabaul Area, Rabaul |
| Date made | 1941 |
| Conflict |
Second World War, 1939-1945 |
| Copyright |
Item copyright: Copyright expired - public domain
|
Three members of the Anti Aircraft Battery Rabaul in the back of the battery's Ford utility truck ...
Description
Three members of the Anti Aircraft Battery Rabaul in the back of the battery's Ford utility truck (Registration Number C13605) returning to Malaguna camp after a pig shooting or "puk puk" expedition. Left to right; N109352 (NX191459) Gunner (Gnr) Thomas (Tom) Gordon, N271613 (NX191485) Bombardier Francis James (Jim) Heriot and N107809 (NX191444) Gnr Peter Biden. Of the fifty-three officers and other ranks in the battery only seven survived. Some were massacred by the Japanese at Tol in early February 1942. Gordon, Heriot and Biden were among those taken prisoner of war (POW) following the Japanese invasion of January 1942 and held at Rabaul, New Britain. On 22 June 1942 they were among an estimated 845 POWs and 209 civilians who embarked from Rabaul aboard the Japanese transport ship MV Montevideo Maru. The POWs were members of the Anti Aircraft Battery Rabaul, No. 1 Independent Company, 2/22 Battalion and other units of Lark Force. Civilians included officials of the New Guinea Administration and missionaries. The ship sailed unescorted for Hainan Island. On 1 July 1942 all of the prisoners died when the Montevideo Maru was torpedoed by a US Navy submarine, USS Sturgeon, off the coast of Luzon Island in the Philippines.