Bandsmen remembered in ceremony at Australian War Memorial
2/22nd Battalion Band, photographed in full military uniform in Trawool, Victoria, 1940. (Photo courtesy of The Salvation Army Southern Territory Heritage Centre)
The Salvation Army will be a large part of this weekend’s ceremony at the Australian War Memorial to mark the 70th anniversary of Australia’s biggest single war-time loss of life – the sinking of Montevideo Maru, off the Philippines’ coast, enroute from Rabaul.
1053 Australians went down when an American submarine sank the Japanese prisoner-of-war ship in 1942. Those who died included members of the 2/22nd Battalion Band – all but two of whom were members of The Salvation Army, led by well-known composer Arthur Gullidge.
“In the time of war bandsmen – they didn’t scare the enemy off with their bad playing – what they would do is act as the stretcher-bearers for the unit,” says The Salvation Army Southern Territory Archivist, Lindsay Cox.
“At the time of the war, Arthur Gullidge decided to reconcile his Christian beliefs against the war by enlisting as a musician along with as many of the Brunswick band as he could.”
The band was made up of Salvationists, mostly from Melbourne, one member from Sydney and one from Tasmania. There were also two non-Salvationist band members. When the Japanese invaded the island of Rabaul, two members were killed during the attack, four died whilst trying to escape and 16 were on the Montevideo Maru when it went down.
“Only one bandsman survived,” says Lindsay, who has authored a book on the event called Brave and True, “Fred Kollmorgen escaped Rabaul after the attack and trekked 1,100 kilometres for four months through the jungle to safety. He a Salvation Army bandsman from Melbourne and he died just last year, aged 94.”
A new memorial to remember those who lost their lives in the event will be unveiled at the National War Memorial in Canberra this weekend. The Melbourne Staff Band will play at the event and many Salvationists are attending.
Lest we Forget.
Comments
The name of the last survivor of the Gullidge band was Fred Kollmorgen not 'Fred Cole Morgan' as your report spells his name.
@merv collins: Hi Merv. You're right! Thanks for picking up on the mistake. :)
simply stopping by to say hello