Many people are aware of the Japanese attack, in May 1943, on the Australian Hospital Ship Centaur, but few perhaps realise that a number of war dead and survivors were from the Northern Rivers. The Centaur was sailing to Port Moresby to transport non-combatant personnel heading for a tour of duty in New Guinea, and embark casualties from the Buna and Gona campaigns.
Torpedoed off the coast of Queensland, the strike occurred shortly after Japanese submarines sank vulnerable district merchant shipping on the North and Mid North Coast of NSW. The Limerick lost two of its crew off Cape Byron when falling behind a convoy due to engine trouble. Two days later, Wollongbar II lost 32 lives, a shocking number at the time. The dead included the ship’s captain, Charles Benson, who was well known in the Bay and a member of the masons’ Lodge Cavanbah.
Photo supplied
When the Centaur was sunk, 268 lives were tragically lost: hospital ship medical staff; the 2/12th Field Ambulance Unit; and Merchant Navy crew. Only 64 survived, most trapped below deck at 4.10am when the torpedo struck. Two of these casualties were born locally, in 1920, within weeks of each other: Kevin Francis Hogan and Owen Patrick McGuire.
These young dairy farmers were of Irish Catholic descent, joining the AIF contemporaneously in November 1942. Attached to the Australian Army Service Corps (AASC), they were two of 19 ambulance drivers aboard the Centaur before it was sunk. Drivers from Casino and the Tweed, John O’N Moran and Basil Colefax, also drowned.
Northern Rivers living
Kevin came from one of the earliest district pioneering families. His grandfather James Hogan had emigrated from Ireland with his brother Patrick, the future Member for Richmond in the New South Wales Parliament and Member of the Legislative Assembly for almost a decade. Active in timber, insurance, other substantial businesses and politics, Patrick Hogan came to spend most of his time in Sydney (Kevin Hogan, federal MP and Member for Page, is not a descendant of the family).
James selected 640 acres at Coopers Creek in 1884. A dairy farmer on extensive property, he was assisted by his older sons until the farm was managed by the youngest, Martin Timothy, the father of Kevin. Pioneer James’ grandson continued to work on the land maintaining the family tradition.
Sadly, Kevin’s life was marked by tragedy before he joined the AIF. When he enlisted he was already a widower. Esme, his wife, had died in 1941 alongside the couple’s newborn daughter. He perished before his 23rd birthday. Kevin’s mother by now lived at Broken Head. As next of kin, she received condolences from Buckingham Palace: ‘The Queen and I offer you our heart felt sympathy in your great sorrow…’. Ellen Savage, Centaur’s sole surviving nurse, also sent her sympathies. Kevin is commemorated on the WW II pillar at the Byron Bay Memorial cenotaph.
Born in the Bay along with his older brother James Peter, comparatively little is known of Owen Maguire other than that their grandparents arrived on the South Coast of NSW after emigrating from Ireland. They are not related to the prominent McGuire pioneers who were timber getters in the Northern Rivers. What we do know is that several members of the family served in the AIF during the First and Second World Wars.
Owen’s father was John Michael McGuire. His brother, also named James Peter, died at Ypres in 1917. John and his wife appear to have arrived in the Casino area from Shoalhaven around 1916 whilst adding to their family of ten children. They moved around the districts, with infants born in Berry, Kangaroo Valley, Byron Bay, Bangalow, Kyogle and Casino.
Unmarried, whether Owen worked on Casino land owned by his parents, or not, is unknown. Upon enlistment, he registered his birth at Byron Bay, listing his occupation as farm labourer. Two of Owen’s brothers also served in the AIF, where at least one of them, Sapper James Peter, was at Port Moresby. Corporal Robert Michael’s career has not been confirmed. After Owen’s death was announced, the Northern Star reported him as a ‘native of Byron Bay’, qualifying that ‘he had lived with his parents and family at Tatham for a considerable period before he enlisted’. Owen is commemorated on a war memorial panel at Rookwood Cemetery, Sydney.
Hospital Ship the Centaur was converted from a refrigerated freighter that formerly carried passengers, cargo and livestock. Whilst we remember the sacrifices of the services this coming Anzac Day, let us remember too those of the Merchant Navy who supported them and an Australia, ‘in peril’, during its ‘darkest hour’ in the Pacific War theatre.
Lest We Forget.
If any local families believe their ancestor served the Merchant Navy please contact BBHS at: [email protected].
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