Vindicatrix Boy

A NEW twist has been added to the mystery of the Australian hospital ship Centaur, with the discovery that a chunk of its name plank was salvaged by a local army sergeant on Moreton Island, writes Glenis Green in Brisbane’s Courier-Mail.

Read the full story here.

ABC Radio interview

Listen to an interview with Jan Thomas of the Centaur Association by Peter Scott of ABC Radio.

Missing father

Max Chapman has spent most of his 65 years wondering where his father is.

He knows Earnest Ainslie Chapman was one of 268 people who died on the Centaur on May 14, 1943, just two months before Max came into the world.

See the full story and photo in the Sunshine Coast Daily.

Children applaud 86-year-old survivor
 
Hundreds of children applauded a survivor of the Australian hospital ship Centaur yesterday during services to mark the 66th year since the its sinking.
 
Martin Pash, 86, of Melbourne, laid a bundle of yellow flowers on the Centaur memorial at Coolangatta’s Point Danger, which the ship passed shortly before it was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine during World War II.
 
See the full story by Tuck Thompson of the Brisbane Courier Mail.

Brisbane’s Courier-Mail newspaper has played a major role in getting both the Queensland and Federal Governments to fund the search for Centaur.

Read its story about the commemoration of the 66th anniversary of the sinking.

Alex Leask lost three uncles when HMAS Centaur was sunk in World War II. (Photo: ABC Local Radio: Nicole Lee)

Alice Springs local Alex Leask, who lost three uncles on the Centaur 66 years ago, has grown up with the story as part of his family folklore.

Not long before that fateful calm night in May, Alex’s father was working on the Centaur only to return home to look after his pregnant wife. At this stage Alex’s uncles weren’t working on the ship.

“My mother was pregnant with me at the time. She was ill and Dad’s brothers, Harold, Alexander and Henry implored for dad to go home and look after my mother on compassionate leave.

“Dad didn’t know that they were on the ship… the attack broke the Geneva convention about targeting hospital ships,” said Alex.

The effects of the sinking of the Centaur, which went down in three minutes, have continued to this day.

“The effect was huge on my parents. They could never talk about it, none of dad’s brothers were married and they used to treat mum as a princess; the grief was overwhelming.”

“The tragedy meant it was the end of the family on Dad’s side.”

Alex Leask’s mother, father and uncles before the sinking of the Centaur. (Photo: ABC Local Radio: Nicole Lee)

Read more

Click here to see rare footage of the Australian hospital ship Centaur rescuing the survivors of the German auxiliary cruiser Kormoran after it had sunk and been sunk by HMAS Sydney.