Collection relating to the service of N14130 Leslie Ian Hamilton Robbins Accession Number: P02395.028

Description

Palmalmal Plantation, Gazelle Peninsula, New Britain. 1942-04-12. Father Edward Charles (Ted) Harris, wearing a hat, with Mrs Janke, the half Malay wife of the interned German owner of Wunung Plantation, standing with Mrs Watterman and her four children and a group of local men in front of a plantation building. An unidentified Australian soldier stands second from the left. Mrs Watterman was the Filipino wife of the Drina Plantation manager who had been murdered by police boys who had escaped from Rabaul. Mrs Watterman and her family, along with Mrs Janke, were sheltering at Palmalmal Plantation and were evacuated with Australian troops on the HMAS Laurabada later in the day. Father Harris, a Roman Catholic priest, ran the Malmal Catholic Mission at Jacquinot Bay. He was later taken by boat from the Mission to Rabaul by the occupying Japanese forces and executed at sea. (Donor L. Robbins)

Details

Conflicts

• Second World War, 1939-1945