Thread: Australian Hospital Ship Centaur found.

Originally Posted by spidge

I don't know if we are on the same track however the open version that I am aware of is this:

Ambulance drivers attached to the 2/12th Ambulance did attempt to bring their rifles and ammunition with them onto the ship.

The master and the Chief Medical Officer would not allow them to bring the arms aboard. The crew then thought that there may have been other soldiers and munitions and/or military supplies on board so they searched the "holds" of the ship and found nothing.

Then official confirmation was received that the drivers (under the Hague Convention 1907 Article?????) permitted to carry weapons and ammunition to "to control good order and the defence of the wounded".

Do you have a different version?

Cheers

Geoff

Sounds to close too be any thing else, so yes Spidge we are I believe on the same page.

As for spies i could not see very many spies for the Japanese to be on the Australian mainland. And especially spies who have information on the routes of convoy/ship.

So the Japanese Submarine wouldn't of had a clue if any weapons or RAinft types were on board. So he knowingly sunk the ship that was lit up like a Christmas tree with red crosses and the like.
Four (4) years, the ba$^ard should of been hanged most especially for machine gunning the men while in the water.
'B' class war crime even with the Centaur not on the charge sheet he should of been treated like so many other IJN & IJA criminals and been under a A class crime.

Interesting that the captain who witnessed it did not want anything to do with it.
Probably very embarrassed that being a Captain of a ship sunk in war time he survived and was rescued by this Japanese fellow, while his ship went down and his men drowned or where shot.
Whatever the reason it is a pity he did not appear.

As for hospital ships carrying war supplies well 50 rifles ain't that much, as I would expect all vessels to carry at least a few rifles and a few hand guns for self protection but also for attempting to blow sea mines.

So imho a few rifles make no difference, however to get technical and to run by all the rules, they are war supplies, and if we start with 50 rifles where do we go, where do we draw the line for war equipment, on a hospital ship as we all know people will use any ruse to give themselves a edge especially in World War time