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ABC 7.30: Survivors of the sinking of HMAS Perth, 1942

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Sailors march in ANZAC Day parade
ABC 7.30: Survivors of the sinking of HMAS Perth, 1942

SUBJECTS:  History

YEARS:  9–10


Discover what happened to the sailors aboard the Royal Australian Navy's light cruiser HMAS Perth.

It was torpedoed during a battle in the Sunda Strait on 28 February 1942 and sank shortly after midnight on 1 March.

This program was broadcast on Anzac Day 2013.

Watch and listen as three Perth survivors recall their wartime experiences.


Things to think about

  1. 1.During World War II, why was HMAS Perth in the Sunda Strait, between the islands of the Netherlands East Indies (modern Indonesia) in February 1942? After Japan attacked the US base at Pearl Harbour on 7 December 1941 and invaded British Malaya the following day, Royal Australian Navy ships, including those that had fought in the Mediterranean Sea, were ordered to face the new threat. Many were sunk in battle.
  2. 2.What was the situation facing the crew of HMAS Perth and USS Houston on the night of 28 February 1942? How does HMAS Perth survivor David Manning describe what happened in the Battle of the Java Sea on 27 February? How many people died when Perth and Houston were sunk the next day? What became of the Perth and Houston survivors?
  3. 3.Why did Anzac Day 2013 have special significance for the ten survivors from HMAS Perth? What shared experiences created a deep and lasting bond between the survivors of the sinking of HMAS Perth and USS Houston? How was that bond expressed on Anzac Day 2013?
  4. 4.Reporter Lisa Whitehead points out that the Perth and Houston survivors were sent to Japanese prisoner of war (POW) camps in Singapore and on the Thai-Burma Railway. Use the internet and other resources to conduct research for a report on conditions experienced by the POWs in those camps.



Date of broadcast: 25 Apr 2013


Copyright

Metadata © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia Ltd 2012 (except where otherwise indicated). Digital content © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). Video © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). All images copyright their respective owners. Text © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).

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