Vindicatrix Boy

World War II — a lucky survivor from the liner Athenia is brought ashore

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is sending a wreath to Port Adelaide to be floated on the Port River at ANZAC Light on the Water 2010 with 3000 candle-lit cardboard lifeboats made by local school students.

The theme of the annual event this year will be a tribute to all those from all countries lost at sea in World War II, including civilians.

Representatives of the Australian Army, Navy, Air Force, Merchant Navy and the Maritime Union will join local veterans and families at the event on ANZAC Eve, Saturday April 24.

The event will include an all-faiths commemorative service with Port chaplain Rev Robin Trebilcock and the catafalque party from the National Servicemen’s Association (above) at the Navigator memorial on McLaren Wharf at Timpson Street at 5.50 pm.

Following a performance by the world-renowned SA Pipes and Drums, a lone piper will lead the catafalque party and an RAN ceremonial unit to the lighthouse for a special display and rifle volley.

Spectators will also be entertained by the Semaphore Choir of Hope and Harmony with an introduction by Rev Ali Wurm.

Speakers will be local Federal Member Mark Butler MP on behalf of Prime Minister Rudd and Veterans Affairs Minister Alan Griffin MP, South Australian Deputy Premier and Treasurer Kevin Foley MP and the Mayor of Port Adelaide Enfield, Gary Johanson.

North Haven Surf Lifesavers will launch the fleet of lifeboats in the Port River as dignitaries and members of the public float wreaths.
ANZAC Light on the Water was voted Port Adelaide Enfield Community Event of the Year in 2009 and is expected to attract a large crowd of veterans and families.

Two weeks ahead of ANZAC Light on the Water 2010 on Saturday April 24, 28 street flags are today flying throughout Port Adelaide — the first time for an ANZAC event

Federal Minister for Veterans Affairs Alan Griffin and local member Mark Butler helped to secure a special grant for the flags, which will go up each year to draw public attention to the event and to ANZAC Day itself.

This year Light on the Water will commemorate all those lost at sea in World War II; 3000 candlelit cardboard lifeboats made by local school students will be floated on the Port River as a tribute to Army, Navy, Air Force, Merchant Navy, medical and rescue, waterside workers and other civilians lost at sea around the world.

The event will begin at 6.30 pm on Queens Wharf on the river side of the Fisherman’s Wharf Markets building near Birkenhead Bridge and will include performances by the SA Pipes and Drums, the Community Choir of Hope and Harmony and an RAN ceremonial unit.

Our photos show the new ANZAC flag outside Port Adelaide Town Hall and along Commercial Road.

This is the first release of renowned Port Adelaide artist John Ford’s new painting for ANZAC Light on the Water 2010.

Voted Community Event of the Year in 2009, this commemorative event on the Port River on Anzac Eve, April 24, will be a special tribute to everyone lost at sea in World War II.

That includes all army, navy, airforce, merchant navy, medics, nurses, small craft crew , wharfies and civilian men, women and children.

Millions of people of all nations who died on oceans and rivers and in harbours from Darwin to Vladivostok, will be represented by 3000 candle-lit cardboard lifeboats made by local school students.

Many local families and visitors from around Australia are expected to gather on McLaren Wharf outside Fishermen’s Wharf Markets, to the left of Lighthouse Square, from 6.30 pm to pay their respects and remember their loved ones.

Each year renowned John creates a painting on the theme of the event; last years was the Australian hospital ship Centaur; it featured on the front cover of the programme for the special national commemorative service in Brisbane Cathedral last month following the finding of the wreck by shipwreck detective David Mearns.

With numerous exhibitions and art awards, John is one of South Australias leading marine artists and his work has been commissioned for many Australian, international, private and corporate collections, including the Make a Wish Foundation, the SA Maritime Museum, the Royal Australian Navy, Australia Post and the ABC series Navigators.

He also teaches art professionally from beginners to advanced.

The ANZAC Eve Light on the Water commemoration has made news in other Australian cities — read this article in Brisbane’s Courier-Mail.

Queensland Premier Anna Bligh has expressed her gratitude for the gift of the new painting by John Ford F.A.S.M.A. of the Australian hospital ship Centaur to the State of Queensland from the organisers of ANZAC Light on the Water 2009, Semaphore Port Adelaide RSL. 

Anthony Crack, Acting Executive Director, State Affairs Department of the Premier and Cabinet and Chairman of the Centaur Project Steering Committee accepts a special limited edition print on her behalf from Tony Williams of Port Adelaide.

Anthony also accepted safe keeping of a second print for David Mearns of Blue Water Discoveries, who will begin the search for the Centaur soon.

Tony presents a third print to Caloundra RSL President, Barry Johnson OAM.

Caloundra RSL has kept the flame alive for everyone aboard the Centaur on her final ill-fated voyage in May 1943 and the families left behind.

The original painting will be on display at ANZAC Light on the Water 2009 when 3000 candle-lit cardboard replica lifeboats will be launched on the Port River as a tribute to the 268 Australians who lost their lives when the Centaur was torpedoed and sunk off the Queensland coast.

David Mearns, who led the search for HMAS Sydney

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Queensland Premier Anna Bligh today announced that respected international dive company Blue Water Recoveries will manage the search for the torpedoed World War II Australian hospital ship Centaur.

The six-member inter-governmental steering committee chose Blue Water Recoveries because of its record in deep-sea research, location and filming of shipwrecks.

Last year the firm found HMAS Sydney, which was commemorated at ANZAC Light on the Water 2008.

The AHS Centaur, brightly lit and clearly marked as a hospital ship, was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine south east of Cape Moreton in May 1943; she caught fire and sank within minutes. Of the 322 persons on board, only 64 survived.

Centaur is thought to lie two to three kilometres underwater

Mr Rudd said finding the Centaur would complete the story of one of Australia’s and Queensland’s greatest maritime disasters.

“If the search is successful, suitable memorial activities will be undertaken to acknowledge AHS Centaur’s resting place and it will be duly declared as an historic shipwreck under the Historic Shipwrecks Act 1976 in recognition of its social and historical significance to all Australians,” Mr Rudd said.

Ms Bligh thanked the Prime Minister for responding to her request to undertake the search.

“This is an important part of the State’s history and for the sake of those who died, their families and loved ones it is right that we try to find its resting place,” she said.

“The project manager’s first responsibility will be to develop a detailed project plan which will outline the likely search area, the timeline for the search, and the estimated costs of the project.”

Once the search area has been defined, a tender will be offered to find an appropriately equipped vessel and the search could begin as early as November this year.

A reference working group, made up of the steering committee’s chair and representatives of the Department of Defence, Blue Water Recoveries, Centaur Association representatives, the RSL and historian Captain Foley will convene later this month.

Blue Water’s other successful searches include HMS Hood, the flagship of the Royal Navy which was sunk in 1941 by the German battleship Bismarck; the Lucona, a cargo ship sunk by a time bomb as part of an Austrian insurance fraud scheme; and the Rio Grande, a German blockade runner sunk in World War II and found at a depth of 5,762 metres.

The Federal Government is matching Queensland’s $2 million commitment for the search.

Visit Blue Water Recoveries’ website.

This painting of the Australian hospital ship Centaur for the 2009 ANZAC Light on the Water commemoration by renowned Birkenhead maritime artist, John Ford (F.A.S.M.A.) is shown here for the first time.

To raise funds for the spectacular Port River ANZAC commemoration on April 24, this brilliant painting is the prize in a raffle to be conducted among the 400 people at the 1940s Dance Party fundraiser at the Maritime Workers Hall on Saturday April 4.

Locals will sport 1940s fashions and hairstyles as they dance to the Bay Big Band with singers Marlene Richards, Terry Brooker, Wally Carr, Jenny Loftes and the Not The Andrews Sisters.

A few tickets are still left for this memorable event at $25 per head (concession $20) from the Port Mall Newsagency in Port Adelaide, by phone on (08) 8447 2961 or by email

The historic Waterside Workers Hall is at 11 Nile Street, Port Adelaide.

ANZAC Light on the Water has been awarded the City of Port Adelaide Australia Day 2009 Community Event of the Year Award. 

The framed Award Certificate will go on permanent display in the Seafarers Centre in Port Adelaide.

Federal and State politicians, Councillors, Council Executives and other VIPs were at the Awards Ceremony at Sunnybrae Function Centre, along with families and individuals from Africa, Asia, the Middle East and the UK who were awarded Australian Citizenship in a special ceremony conducted by the Mayor Gary Johanson and Council CEO Harry Wierda.

Local Federal Member Mark Butler MP (pictured below with Keith Ridgeway, Secretary of the SA Merchant Navy Association (left) and John Williams) gave a special address in which he welcomed all of the new citizens and congratulated those who received the Australia Day Awards.

Read the full story in the Portside Messenger.

The State and Commonwealth’s search for AHS Centaur has attracted eleven national and international expressions of interest, Queensland Premier Anna Bligh said today.

“Tenders closed this afternoon and this is a most pleasing outcome to have had such interest,” said the Premier.

“The Australian Hospital Ship Centaur, ablaze with lights, was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine south east of Cape Moreton in May 1943. She caught fire and sank within minutes. Of the 322 persons on board, only 64 survived.

“The specifics of the eleven applications are commercial-in-confidence and are now the subject of evaluation. That process will be undertaken by the intergovernmental Steering committee.

“The evaluation will take place over the next couple of weeks. Dependant upon subsequent contractual negotiations, it is hoped the preferred Project Manager could be known soon after.

“The Project Manager’s first responsibility will be to develop search timeframes. It is expected that the search’s timing could be affected by the availability of suitable vessels, equipment and prevailing weather conditions.

“But my government is keen for it to be undertaken at the earliest possible time.”

The Committee’s evaluation criteria will be based on; relevant experience (particularly in the area of finding shipwrecks, marine salvage and/or archaeology), track record, methodology, business skills (people and contract skills), time (proposed timeframe, likelihood of achievement and availability) and referee checks.

“Also the panel will obviously evaluate the value-for-money aspect,” she said.

As the Acting Premier Paul Lucas said last week, the separate Reference Group; including the Steering Committee’s Chair, Project Manager, Centaur Association representatives, the RSL and historian Captain Foley will meet once the Project Manager is in place.

The Commonwealth is matching Queensland’s $2 million commitment for the search.

Story from www.australia.to/

Photo from Wikimedia.

Together with a multi-cultural event and an Indigenous event that celebrated Aboriginal and Maritime history, ANZAC Light on the Water was featured in the Culture and Community section of the Annual Review.

All three events had contributed to the community’s responsibility to ensure the next generation of young people has a greater understanding and acceptance of cultural differences in Australian society.

“Then, on the eve of Anzac Day, there was another moving tribute-this time to the 645 crew lost in the sinking of HMAS Sydney in 1941, and especially its South Australian members in the second Light on the Water event.
 
“It has clearly captured the imagination of a new generation of Australians, “ said Port Adelaide Enfield Mayor Gary Johanson.
 
“3000 candle-lit  cardboard lifeboats were launched on the river this year, all of them made by local schoolchildren who have taken this event to their hearts.”