Honouring the Men who gave their lives whilst serving in the Merchant Navy
and whose names are on the Australian War Memorial Commemorative Roll
and whose names are on the Australian War Memorial Commemorative Roll
S.S. NANKIN (Greenock)
WW2
WW2
The Sydney Morning Herald (N.S.W.) 17-9-1945
P.O.W.s Had To Catch Flies To Get Breakfast
DARWIN Sunday—-A favourite form of punishing POW's at the notorious Karasaki Camp Yokohama was to make them catch 200 flies each before giving them breakfast Relating this, Third Engineer Herbert Conn, of Washington Street, Bexley one of four survivors of the merchant ship Nankin, who reached Darwin by air last night, said, "What we want to do with the Japs., now they are beaten is to give them tails and send them back to the jungles where they belong. " The four men spent four years in the Japanese POW camp. The others are:— Fifth Engineer Raymond Cameron,Pearson Street, Belmont, New South Wales - Engineer Robert Stoker, Daphne Street Botany, New South Wales - Able-Seaman F. McGovern, Taylor Street Paddington New South Wales (a member of the RAN)
The Nankin was sunk by the German raider Thor 1,200 miles west of Perth in May, 1942. The raider picked up the crew and passengers and transferred them to a Japanese vessel which took them to Japan.
Conn and his companions were housed at Karasaki Yokohama, which is sandwiched between a steel works and an oil refinery. He was in the camp when bombs fell on it during a Super-Fortress raid. Among the 15 Japanese guards killed in that raid was a sergeant who had practiced many atrocities. Also killed were 20 POW's
Prisoners of war were kicked and beaten especially after raids. One man was kicked and bashed with rifle butts and made to stand in the snow all night holding a bucket of water above his head because a Japanese guard had found a heater in his possession The man collapsed many times during the night but each time was revived with douches of cold water. He was made to go to work as usual the next day. The same punishment was meted out again next night
The Sydney Morning Herald (N.S.W.) 18-9-1945
SURVIVORS OF NANKIN
Three survivors of the Nankin, captured in the Indian Ocean by a German raider In 1942, were among the returning party. They were Third Engineer H. Conn, Fifth Engineer Raymond Cameron, and Seventh Engineer Robert E. Stoker, all of Sydney.
They said the ship was shelled by the raider and machine-gunned by a plane sent off by the vessel. An attempt to scuttle the Nankin was frustrated by the Germans, who put their own men on board and took the ship to Japan. The prisoners, including women and children, travelling to Calcutta, were transferred to the German tender Regensburg. Four of the ship's complement died in air raids while they were in prison camp, and others from illness hastened by the enemy's failure to issue medical supplies.
P.O.W.s Had To Catch Flies To Get Breakfast
DARWIN Sunday—-A favourite form of punishing POW's at the notorious Karasaki Camp Yokohama was to make them catch 200 flies each before giving them breakfast Relating this, Third Engineer Herbert Conn, of Washington Street, Bexley one of four survivors of the merchant ship Nankin, who reached Darwin by air last night, said, "What we want to do with the Japs., now they are beaten is to give them tails and send them back to the jungles where they belong. " The four men spent four years in the Japanese POW camp. The others are:— Fifth Engineer Raymond Cameron,Pearson Street, Belmont, New South Wales - Engineer Robert Stoker, Daphne Street Botany, New South Wales - Able-Seaman F. McGovern, Taylor Street Paddington New South Wales (a member of the RAN)
The Nankin was sunk by the German raider Thor 1,200 miles west of Perth in May, 1942. The raider picked up the crew and passengers and transferred them to a Japanese vessel which took them to Japan.
Conn and his companions were housed at Karasaki Yokohama, which is sandwiched between a steel works and an oil refinery. He was in the camp when bombs fell on it during a Super-Fortress raid. Among the 15 Japanese guards killed in that raid was a sergeant who had practiced many atrocities. Also killed were 20 POW's
Prisoners of war were kicked and beaten especially after raids. One man was kicked and bashed with rifle butts and made to stand in the snow all night holding a bucket of water above his head because a Japanese guard had found a heater in his possession The man collapsed many times during the night but each time was revived with douches of cold water. He was made to go to work as usual the next day. The same punishment was meted out again next night
The Sydney Morning Herald (N.S.W.) 18-9-1945
SURVIVORS OF NANKIN
Three survivors of the Nankin, captured in the Indian Ocean by a German raider In 1942, were among the returning party. They were Third Engineer H. Conn, Fifth Engineer Raymond Cameron, and Seventh Engineer Robert E. Stoker, all of Sydney.
They said the ship was shelled by the raider and machine-gunned by a plane sent off by the vessel. An attempt to scuttle the Nankin was frustrated by the Germans, who put their own men on board and took the ship to Japan. The prisoners, including women and children, travelling to Calcutta, were transferred to the German tender Regensburg. Four of the ship's complement died in air raids while they were in prison camp, and others from illness hastened by the enemy's failure to issue medical supplies.
Chief Engineer Officer Thomas BROWN
Date of Engagement 4-10-1939, Hong Kong Australian Merchant Navy Died 13-12-1943, Tokyo, Japan (Prisoner of War) aged 58years Husband of Mary Brown, of St. Leonards, New South Wales, Australia. Resting: Yokohama War Cemetery, Yokohama, Kanto, Japan Honoured Australian War Memorial Commemorative Roll |
3rd Radio Officer Leonard S. BICKLEY
Born: Sydney, N.S.W. Also known as Leonard Harvey Cowle Date of Engagement 19-5-1941, Sydney, N.S.W. Australian Merchant Navy Killed in Allied Air Raid 25-7-1945 (Camp 2B, Tokyo, Japan) aged 21years Son of Eileen Cowle, of Darlington, New South Wales, Australia. Resting: Yokohama War Cemetery, Yokohama, Kanto, Japan Honoured Australian War Memorial Commemorative Roll |
Stewardess Lorraine Elizabeth GLEESON
Born: Glasgow Date of Engagement 21-6-1939, Sydney, N.S.W. Australian Merchant Navy Captured 10-5-1942 Died 7-4-1945, Camp 45, Japan (Illness - Prisoner of War) Daughter of Thomas Devlin Gleeson and Agnus Gleeson Wife of M. J. Gleeson, of Willoughby, New South Wales, Australia. Resting: Yokohama War Cemetery, Yokohama, Kanto, Japan Honoured Australian War Memorial Commemorative Roll |
The Sydney Morning Herald (N.S.W.) 17-7-1945
GLEESON.-April 7, 1945, in a Japanese internment camp, Japan, Lorraine Elizabeth (M.N.), beloved wife of Michael Joseph Gleeson (ex-A.I.F., ret.). R.I.P.
GLEESON.-April 7, 1945, in a Japanese internment camp, Japan, Lorraine Elizabeth (M.N.), beloved wife of Michael Joseph Gleeson (ex-A.I.F., ret.). R.I.P.
3rd Mate Geoffrey Spinner HALL
Born: Melbourne, Victoria Date of Engagement 14-2-1940, Sydney, N.S.W. Australian Merchant Navy Died 19-1-1943, Japan (Prisoner of War) Son of Mrs. D. E. Hall, of North Williamstown, Victoria. Resting: Yokohama War Cemetery, Yokohama, Kanto, Japan Honoured Australian War Memorial Commemorative Roll |
Fourth Engineer Officer Leopold Joseph MONTGOMERY
Born: Cessnock, N.S.W. Date of Engagement 19-7-1940, Newcastle, N.S.W. Australian Merchant Navy Died 25-7-1945, Japan (Prisoner of War) aged 27years Son of Alexander Raymond and Nellie Montgomery, of Lambton, New South Wales Resting: Yokohama War Cemetery, Yokohama, Kanto, Japan Honoured Australian War Memorial Commemorative Roll |
Second Officer Harry Trivett ROZEA
Born: Sydney, N.S.W. Date of Engagement 22-8-1939, Sydney, N.S.W. Australian Merchant Navy Died 25-7-1945, Japan (Prisoner of War) aged 29years Son of Henry Thomas George and Nellie Millicent Rozea Husband of Betty Murray Rozea, of Vaucluse, New South Wales Resting: Yokohama War Cemetery, Yokohama, Kanto, Japan Honoured Australian War Memorial Commemorative Roll |
The Sydney Morning Herald (N.S.W.) 6-10-1945
ROZEA -July 25 1941 Henry Trivett Rozea Second Officer S S Nankin loving husband of Bettv and beloved elder son of Mr and Mrs H T Rozea of Vaucluse and brother of John and Perola. Died while POW Japan aged 28 years.