Kuttabul service helps to heal

SHARED MOMENT: Kuttabul CO CMDR Brett Chandler talks to Neil Roberts a survivor of the sinking of HMAS Kuttabul in WWII. Photo: ABPH Jo Dilorenzo817 Squadron’s guard platoon stands at attention in preparation to march.

Photo: LSPH Kelvin Hockey

IN A NUTSHELL

Ceremonies were held to mark the 64th anniversary of the midget sub attack on Sydney. A new memorial plaque was unveiled at Taylors Bay thanks to Mosman RSL and Mosman Historical Society.  Kuttbul survivor Neil Roberts attended the commemoration ceremony.

Volume 49, No. 10, June 15, 2006


It was clear that the passage of time had helped heal the scars of war when RAN personnel and the Consul-General of Japan joined hands to mark the 64th anniversary of the midget submarine attack on Sydney Harbour in WWII.

A commemoration service was conducted at HMAS Kuttabul (CMDR Brett Chandler) and a new memorial plaque unveiled in Sydney Harbour National Park to mark the daring Japanese raid in 1942 that claimed the lives of 21 RAN and British sailors and six Japanese submariners.

The Kuttabul memorial service conducted on June 1 commemorated the 19 RAN and two Royal Navy sailors who died when the depot ship they were sleeping on was hit by a torpedo fired from one of three Japanese midget submarines that penetrated the harbour defences.

Chaplain Ian McKendrick conducted the service that was attended by 300 people, including senior Navy personnel, the consul-generals of Japan and Allied countries, naval association members, school children and several dozen WWII veterans including Neil Roberts, who survived the sinking of Kuttabul.

Wreaths were layed at the Kuttabul memorial by the Maritime Commander Australia RADM Davyd Thomas, the Deputy Maritime Commander CDRE Ray Griggs, Navy Systems Commander CDRE Geoff Geraghty, and the consul-generals of Japan, the US, UK and The Netherlands.

RADM Thomas said the purpose of the annual Kuttabul memorial service is to commemorate the brave servicemen who laid down their lives in the service of their country, but the other significance is that all the countries represented are now allies in the fight against terrorism.

“Of special significance is that all of us are now working together for a common cause, with the ADF working alongside peacekeepers from Japan, UK and the US in Iraq, and troops from The Netherlands in Afghanistan,” he said.

RADM Thomas said it is vitally important that the Australian service personnel who sacrificed their lives in the defence of the country are commemorated at memorial services such as this.

CMDR Chandler told the gathering that the midget submarine attack, and the shelling by five Japanese submarines of Sydney and Newcastle on June 8, 1942, shocked Australians who for the first time realised that invasion was a chilling possibility.

Survivor Neil Roberts said the Japanese midget submarine raid was significant because it marked the furthest penetration south by Japanese military forces.

Mr Roberts, who is gravely ill, said he would not be addressing future Kuttabul memorials because “although the spirit is willing, the flesh is failing”.

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