World commemorates start of World War Two

This year, as the world commemorates the 70th Anniversary of the start of World War Two, people around Around Australia will focus on two significant events in Port Adelaide.

On ANZAC Eve, Friday April 24, the third Light on the Water on the Port River will commemorate the sinking of the hospital ship Centaur in a year when Veterans Affairs marks the World War Two 70th Anniversary with a major focus on the role of women at war.

Eleven Australian Army nurses were among the 268 Australians who perished when the Centaur was struck by a deadly Japanese torpedo off the coast of Queensland on May 12, 1943.

Australian Merchant Navy crew, medical staff and men of the 2/12th Field Ambulance and 44 others made up the rest of those killed.

See video including interview with Sister Ellen Savage who survived the sinking of the hospital ship Centaur.

http://www.ww2australia.gov.au/waratsea/


Merchant Navy Day March on same day

Australia's second Merchant Navy Day march in Port Adelaide on September 3 will be on the very day that World War Two started and a large number of veterans are expected to march.

The first casualty of World War Two was the British merchant vessel Athenia on September 3.

German U-boat Commander, Oberleutnant Fritz-Julius Lemp sighted the ship 250 miles off the coast of Ireland.

He maintained radio silence to achieve surprise and surprise is what happened because the British had just declared war that day of September 3, 1939.

Just under 12 hours later, Lemp ordered his men to fire on the ship and four torpedoes crashed into the side of the unarmed passenger ship.

The ship exploded immediately killing all but 112 people.

Lemp later claimed that the sinking of the Athenia was an accident, and that he didn't know it was unarmed and believed it was an armed merchant ship.

German command told Lemp to forget about it, and destroy all evidence he had of the sinking including diaries, papers, and any other article mentioning the sinking.

The Germans were then going to blame Winston Churchill for the sinking of the ship by stating that Churchill had ordered the ship to sink to get the U.S. into the war.

The U.S. and British of course did not believe this story.

Story of Athenia sinking:

http://library.thinkquest.org/26742/batat.html
Battle of the Atlantic