Balgownie's Betty Smith and cousin Dawn Vickery were in high spirits as they walked home from town in early 1943.With war raging on several fronts in Europe and the Pacific, there was not much to celebrate.But the gloom was lessened somewhat by the army camp at neighbouring Fernhill where hundreds of young soldiers were posted - and where many a romance was kindled.
EDITORIAL: Why Japan should apologiseBetty and Dawn were walking past the Balgownie war memorial when they came across a group of young soldiers.They called the girls over and Betty's eye was caught by a cheerful young chap named Cyril Richardson, a 23-year-old hospital wardsman from Cairns who had enlisted with the Australia Army's 2/12 Field Ambulance division.Romance blossomed and the couple were married just months later at St Michael's Cathedral, Wollongong.Alongside Private Richardson in the camp was Joe Lucas, 29, an unmarried steelworker from Coledale.Joe's father, Joseph, was a well-known member of St John Ambulance, so when it came time for Joe to enlist, the 2/12 Field Ambulance Division was a logical decision.Joe's neighbour Norm McLean, 29, was also encouraged to enlist as a medical orderly, but not for any nostalgic reason. The married coalminer was a devout Christian who took strong objection to holding a rifle and felt he would make a greater difference serving on a hospital ship.When family man Clem Woods, 31, of Woonona, entered the Fernhill army camp as a first aid officer and driver, his wife of two years, Beryl, was heavily pregnant with their second child, Lucy, and had a daughter, Isabel.Other Illawarra men training in the camp with the 2/12 Field Ambulance were John Taggart, 27, of West Wollongong, Leonard Swan, 25, of Wollongong, George Wright, 27, of Mt Kembla, Rex Allan Pain, 32, of Kiama and Richard O'Connor, 25, of Bulli.The order arrived swiftly for the men to move out. They were to be transported by train to Sydney, where they would board the Australian hospital ship Centaur, en route to Papua New Guinea.There was little or no time for the Illawarra boys to get word to their families.Joe Lucas' 24-year-old brother, Don, made his way to the track as the train arrived."The train came through from Coalcliff tunnel and there he was standing on the verandah at the back," Don said. "I blew my whistle and drew his attention as the train was flying past. I waved to him and that's the last I saw of him." Clem Woods was fortunate to receive his orders while visiting Beryl."A friend came and got him and said, 'We've got to go'," said daughter Lucy Walton, who was born just days later."When he was on the train, to get a message to his brother he wrote a note saying he had orders and wrapped it in a penny. "He threw it out the train and into his brother's home at Thirroul. He whistled to a nephew who was able to retrieve it."Unfortunately for Betty Richardson, the orders arrived too swiftly and her husband of just a few months was shipped out before she could be notified.All eight Illawarra men were among the dead when the Centaur was torpedoed by the Japanese in the early hours of May 14, 1943.Clem's three girls spent their lives honouring his memory.Don Lucas, 90, still cries when he recalls his beloved brother.Norm's mother, Elizabeth - who also mourned the loss of son George on the Kokoda the same year - raised the money to build Coledale's first war memorial.Betty Richardson died several years later, broken hearted."She never accepted that he drowned. She always thought he would return to her," sister Miriam Harrison said.The men's families this week expressed a mixture of joy and sadness when the Centaur was finally recovered."It was wonderful that we finally know where Dad is, but it's not closure," Lucy Walton said. "It will never close for us until Japan apologises."
