Around 90 Stanhope residents and visitors gathered on Tuesday, July 1 to commemorate Australia’s deadliest maritime disaster at Stanhope Community Hall.

The date marked 83 years since more than 1000 people lost their lives when the Japanese Montevideo Maru merchant ship was sunk in 1942.

Torpedoed by the United States submarine USS Sturgeon, 853 Australian Prisoners of War were among the lives lost in the sinking, including three servicemen from Stanhope.

Stanhope RSL sub-branch president Phillip Chapman opened the service, and acknowledged the attendees that still have direct links with the tragedy.

“It is our duty to perpetuate their proud story today, and every other day,” he said.

Lois Newman, whose uncle was aboard the Montevideo, made an address about her connection to the tragedy and thanked the crowd for attending the service.

Stanhope RSL secretary George Gemmill recited an altered version of the Ode of Remembrance before the Last Post was played, followed by a minute of silence.

Mr Gemmill spoke about the military and general history of Stanhope, including the early days of its RSL.

“Well, I feel like I’m a new boy on the block here: I’ve only known about the Montevideo Maru Tragedy for the last 20 years,” he said.

“It was when I became secretary of the RSL that, talking to the old Second World War veterans that were still here, they passed on information to me.”

He also discussed the commemorative mural on Monash St painted by Tim Bowtell in 2023 which depicts the Montevideo.

The names of the three Stanhope locals involved in the tragedy are included in the mural: Percy Crombie, Alfred Meldrum and William McLennan.

The servicemen enlisted in the war effort voluntarily in 1940 as part of the 2/22 Battalion of the Australian Army, known as Lark Force.

They were based in Rabaul, Papua New Guinea, which was invaded by a huge Japanese force in February 1942, outnumbering and defeating the 1200 or so Australians.

Kyabram and Stanhope RSL member Clive Toms, whose two uncles Howard and Hector Toms were on board the Montevideo, spoke about the history of the tragedy, and the importance of the mural.

“The mural out there, when Stanhope was doing it, inspired me to join the team. I could see that Stanhope was a little RSL branch that was punching above its weight,” he said.

“From a family perspective, the unknown location of the wreck, and the knowledge where our loved ones lie, was interwoven through our lives.”

In April 2023, the the shipwreck was discovered in the South China Sea and declared a war grave, bringing some closure to the family’s of the lost soldiers.

“It’s partial closure, really, to those affected by the tragedy,” Mr Toms said.

Four more guest speakers were invited to address the crowd at the service, sharing their personal connections to the tragedy.

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