Sisters of War - A letter from Sister Flavia

Last night ABC television broadcast the story Sisters of War - showing the story of the nuns at Vunapope Mission and the nursing sisters who were left there when the Japanese invaded Rabaul Harbour during World War 2.

The following is a verbatim transcript of a letter by Sister Flavia of the Sacred Heart Convent which was sent to my grandmother, Mona Normoyle.

Red Cross Envelope: Mrs C. Normoyle, 76 Lucas Road, Burwood.

Letter: Written on Australian Red Cross Society Unofficial Notepaper.

Written across the top: "May the Sacred Heart of Jesus be everywhere Loved!

C/o A.N.G.A.U Lae
New Guinea
17th November, 1945.

My dear Mrs. Normoyle,

As Mr. Normoyle is leaving tomorrow I am sending a little note down with him.
I received Janet's very interesting little letter and am delighted at the progress she has made. I have often wondered where all my little pupils were and now have news of them all except Juan Symes and the Hartleys. I am afraid poor Juan's father was on board the ill-fated "Montevideo Maru". We traced up all the other civilians, but could not find anything definite about him. We never actually heard that he was in the Camp in Rabaul. Wasn't it tragic about that ship - nearly the whole male population of Rabaul - we were horrified when the Japs told us but we tried to console ourselves by thinking it was only Jap propaganda. However now that no trace can be found of these men and the boys of the 2/22 we are afraid it is true.
We had the civilians and sick soldiers with us in Vunapope, when the Japs landed. It was a terrible night - dark and stormy. We were busy up till 11p.m. receiving the sick and wounded and packing the able-bodied off to the Bush.
We had no time to reflect on what was taking place in Rabaul. The boys were all keyed up, as a rumour went round that the American Fleet was on its way and would be in Rabaul in thirty-six hours. We kept our spirits up and tried to keep the boys up too. However at 11p.m. the last of the ambulance came in and gave the news that the Japs were landing at Pilla Pilla and our boys were engaging them at Raluana. Here a fierce fight ensued - our boys attacking the Japs with mortar bombs as they came ashore in their landing barges. Nobby Clark was in charge of this gallant company. They thwarted the Japs' attempt to and here, so the Japs turned off and made for Rabaul. They landed on the main wharf without any opposition.
We returned about 11.30 but not to sleep. We could hear the racket of Artillery on the North Coast and prayed fervently for our poor boys who were still over there.
Next morning we went down to the hospital and served the boys with tea and toast. We remained on at the hospital until the Japs arrived. At 10.30am they came - screaming and yelling they bounded over the hedge of hibiscus. S. M. Philomene and I were in the kitchen. We heard the yells, and put our heads out of the window just at an inopportune moment. A squat little Jap, with bayonet fixed was charging up the garden path. He spotted us and ordered the two of us to put our hands up, and marched us up to the hospital. All the soldiers, sick and wounded werer ordered out of bed and had to line up with the sisters and ourselves on the hospital verandahs. They made us put our hands up and set machine guns up in front of us. Then the little rats began counting us and counting their bullets. Sister Parker whispered "Don't be afraid - its only bluff!" Lucky for us it was. At 12pm they ordered us to get lunch. The soldiers were allowed to go back to bed. We served the boys first, then gave the Japs a loaf of mouldy bread and a pot of tea, heated up from the morning and told them it was all we had. They tossed it away, bayoneted a few tins of fruit which were on the Verandah and made a meal of that. That day passed off fairly well.
However, the next day we were to meet the formidable Jap officers. They came to our house, with about 500 soldiers and lined us up on the verandah. Machine guns and guards with bayonets were placed all around us. The Military Nurses and Mr Abbot were also with us. It was five o'clock when they began the performance and 9pm when they concluded. After sorting out the various nationalities, they put all the Australians apart. We were just wondering what they intended doing with us, when a great commotion commenced downstairs.
Being men of one track minds, and very suspicious, they rushed pell mell downstairs, quite forgetting the Australians. The cause of the commotion was Dr Walch. He had had a heart attack or something and they were taking him down to the hospital, when a guard spotted them and brought them to our house.
When things had quietened down the guards came back to us and escorted us to our rooms and locked the doors. A guard was set up all around the house. At about 11p.m a terrific air-raid too place. Our planes came over and sent many Jap ships to Davy Jones' locker. The guard around us all cleared off. The bombing was music to our ears.
The German Missionaries got the worst end of the stick. The Japs declared them to be spies, because the Australian Government had not interred them, and they were not flying the Nazi flag. The Fathers and brothers were put in the upper story of the White Sisters house and the Sisters downstairs. They would be pulled out of bed and be counted. Fifteen missionaries were killed by the Japs. Three Sisters are still missing and we are afraid they too have met a similar fate. Poor Father Harris * was executed on the Sth Coast, also Father Collhane. Father Mayerhofer **, Lamungi was cruelly tortured, because he refused to give away Major Bates and Major Roberts positions.
The first year seemed very black for us. We saw hundreds of Jap planes going out and thought Port Moresby and Darwin would be getting the works. The first spark of hope gleamed for us, when we saw the few battered members of the grand fleet, which left for the Coral Sea, coming home sadly dismantled. The Japs tried to tell us of their grand victory over the allies and the colossal number of planes brought down, ships sunk etc. etc. But we did not come down in the last shower! The return from Buna was even more heart-raising for us. We had seen them going out in all their glory and only a couple of battered transports returned. They unloaded their mangled heap of human cargo on the beach at Vunapope. You never saw such a horrible sight. Hardly an able-bodied man among the crowd. It was their second big knock-back and they began to realize that they didn't have it all their own way. One of the officers said to us, "we did not know what grand fighters the Australians are till we met them in their own waters." Truly our darling boys did a grand work over that Kokoda trail. Decorations and honours were simply out of date where they were concerned. Even their enemies could sing their praises! I wonder if our Australia people realize it and give them the gratitude that is their due.
At the end of '43 tropic skies began to warm up. Air raids were frequent and planes came over in huge numbers. They made the first big attack on Oct 12. There had been air raids for about three months and they caught the Japs unawares. They had all their planes out on Rapope drome for a spring cleaning. Two hundred of our planes came in and they had passed the Wurengoi before the Japs knew they were coming. We watched the raid. Jap planes tried to take off, but simply crashed back to mother earth, under the fiery missile from American fortresses. From that day on Rapope drome ceased to function. Jap losses were enormous after the bombers left - two daring fighters stayed behind to have a little more excitement. We were walking home from the shelter as we heard a volley of machine gun overhead. The two A. Fighters had spotted a Jap plane coming in and went for it. They were straight shots and in two seconds the Jap plane was making a last descent - another Jap pilot went to be a god in his Japanese heaven!
Last year things became very bad we spent night after night sleeping out in the open. Planes were over all night. We could not get any rest as we were so close to Toberu drome. It was a beautiful sight to see the planes in the cross-beams of about sixteen spot-lights, but it was terrible to see them turn on the A.U. Then we prayed fervently for our poor boys. They would always retaliate with their machine guns - driving down the beams on the gun positions. Only once during a night raid did we see a plane come down. Generally they succeeded in putting the lights out, silencing the guns, and going off in triumph leaving their fury visiting cards behind!
Now that its all over, we thank the good God that he has preserved his poor Missionaries during these terrifying days and nights. After the bombing of Vunapope, things were at their worst. We had no home, no food and worst of all no water. Four dishes of water with about 2 cups in each was used by 40 persons to wash in. However, fortunately, the Americans shelled us from the sea - and the Japs went bush. We raided their shores and filled our trenches with good things. We went every night for a swim on the beach. But then they came back and were were "caliboosed" again.
But now my dear Mrs Normoyle I am afraid I am giving you a headache, but seeing you are an ex-resident of New Britain, I am sure you will be interested. Give my kind regards to any of our old friends you may meet, and my deepest sympathy to any of the relatives of the victims of the "Montevideo" .
Au revoir for the present. May God bless you and all members of your family. Please say a little prayer for my brother who was killed in action in Bougainville and for poor old Dad, who died last August.
Yours sincerely in CJ
Sr M. Flavia F.N.W.S.C

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A link to Sister M. Berenice's testimony about her time in Vunapope is here.

* An article about Father Edward (Ted) Harris can be found here.

** The Australian War Crimes Trials and Investigations (1942-51)
NEW BRITAIN
In November 1943 Father Mayrhofer, a Roman Catholic missionary at Ramale in New Britain (a German national) was arrested by the Military Police on suspicion of assisting the Allies. In the course of his interrogation by a sergeant-major he was blindfolded, tied to a tree, prodded with a pistol and told that he would be shot. He was then held on the ground and a towel was placed over his face. Water was then poured over the towel. This continued for more than an hour, during which time he swallowed much water and nearly suffocated. He was kept handcuffed for more than a month and interrogated twice daily—always with attendant beatings. He was required to sleep in the open, in irons. In R5 the sergeant-major was convicted of torturing and sentenced to death. This was commuted by the Confirming Authority to 15 years imprisonment. In this trial there was no judge-advocate and none of the members of the court had legal qualifications. As a result, a procedural irregularity disadvantageous to the accused occurrred: the Defending Officer's closing address, instead of following that of the Prosecuting Officer, preceded it.

Documenting the Past

This blog is a place for me to keep and write histories of my direct ancestors. I have so much research and information - I want to start to capture it somewhere - so here is as good as anywhere.