The discovery of the Australian hospital ship Centaur, torpedoed off the Queensland coast in 1943 with the loss of 268 lives, raises the question again of whether the Japanese ought to apologise for this wartime atrocity.For its part, the Federal Government is conveniently ducking the issue, satisfied the Japanese have made general and repeated apologies for its "wartime activities".The Japanese won't even admit they scuttled the ship - it is "unclear" says their embassy in Canberra - let alone say sorry.It was almost certainly a Japanese sub that sank this non-combat and plainly marked hospital vessel. Indeed, the submarine's commander had a very dubious record and some admissions were made in Tokyo at the time. Of course, it would not be difficult for Japan to establish the truth - and if it was truly sorrowful for its actions during World War II it would have done so.Some of the Centaur's survivors and relatives of the victims do not see a point to an apology. And the Rudd government and even the RSL appear happy to let bygones be bygones.However, we should not lose sight of history. One of this nation's greatest ever leaders, our wartime prime minister John Curtin, spoke of the "barbarous methods by which the Japanese" conducted warfare. He wrote to the Japanese thundering he reserved the right to full redress for the Centaur's sinking.We live in more peaceful times and there is great merit in a diplomatic approach when dealing with the friction of the past.But what sort of country have we become if we cannot demand an apology for a wrong of such a magnitude, one committed knowingly against hundreds of innocent people?Every Anzac Day the nation declares we shall remember them - Lest We Forget. It need not be couched in political correctness.The Japanese should apologise. And the Federal Government should appeal to them to do so.