When a Japanese submarine attacked and sank the Australian Hospital Ship Centaur off the coast of Brisbane in 1943, disbelief spread throughout the nation.
And for more than 60 years, the exact location of the vessel has remained unknown.
Incorrect claims were made in 1995 that the ship had been found. However, on December 20, 2009, 66 years after it sank, the real resting place of the Centaur was finally discovered.
The search was conducted by deep water search and recovery expert David Mearns, who found the Centaur in a gully 2000 metres below the ocean after a six-day exploration.
During the attack on the Centaur, hundreds were lost, presumed dead, among them was former Macksville doctor Captain Bernard Francis Hindmarsh.
While the town had lost a highly-regarded member of the community, a family had lost their father and husband.
For much of her life, Dr Hindmarsh’s eldest daughter Jan lived in denial that her beloved father was among the 268 (of the 332 on board) who perished on May 14, 1943.
“Missing, presumed dead was the first telegram,” Jan said.
“As a child I was quite convinced he swam ashore and was living in Brisbane, and the reason he didn’t come home was because he had lost his memory.”
“When you are young and someone dies they are buried... there is a grave, there is something left.
“There was nothing tangible about Dad’s death – there was always that doubt that he didn’t drown,” Jan said.
Jan was six-years-old when she lost her father; her sister, Marlene was five-years-old; and their brother Ian was not even two-years-old.
Jan and Ian, who moved from Macksville to Swimming Creek soon after the tragedy, said losing their father in such a national tragedy made the grieving process so much more painful.
“We grieved in isolation because we didn’t know anyone [who had lost a loved one in the Centaur sinking],” Jan said.
It was not until the 50th anniversary of the Centaur’s sinking that Jan and her family found others who had been affected by the tragedy.
They remained in close contact and in 1999 formed the 2-3 AHS Centaur Association – ‘2’ represented World War Two and ‘3’ was because the AHS Centaur was the third Australian hospital ship.
The main role of the group is to honour those lost and support those left behind by the tragedy.
“Part of the mandate of the Centaur Association is to help with the healing process of those who lost loved ones,” Jan said.
“The discovery of the Centaur is a huge step forward for that process.”
For Ian, growing up without a father did not seem out of the norm. Not knowing his father made it difficult to feel the loss.
However, his own high regard for Dr Hindmarsh and the high regard held by the town ensured Ian’s father was present in some form.
“You felt there was this figure that loomed large,” Ian said.
“He was held in such high regard by the community, I felt I had to do my best to live up to the legacy.”
However, the Centaur’s discovery revealed more emotion than Ian was aware he carried.
“I didn’t know it was there at all – but when Jan called to tell me about the ship beeing found, a wave of emotion rolled right in. It was quite surprising to me,” Ian said.
Finding the ship had brought comfort to many families, Jan said.
It was now the Centaur Association’s quest to have the shipwreck properly protected.
“We feel they deserve the honour of their final resting place being declared a war burial site,” Jan said.
A memorial site will be established for the Centaur after high definition photos of the ship wreck are viewed by experts sometime this month to confirm ‘beyond doubt’ it is the Centaur.
Jan attended a meeting in Brisbane earlier this week to discuss when an official memorial would be held.
“A naval ship will take out a plaque to be placed on the sea bed beside the Centaur.
“Placed inside the plaque is a list of those on board the Centaur when it sank.
“Ranks were left off the list – as death being the great leveller,” Jan said.
While Jan doesn’t believe finding the ship has brought closure to her grief, she said it brought comfort in knowing the final resting place of those lost with the Centaur would now be properly protected and honoured.
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