Under the Southern Cross

*This story is written on behalf of the Merchant Marine of WWII. In 2008 the Australian Government proclaimed the 24 June Merchant Navy Day 63 years after WWII

Today the passage of time has dimmed the life of the unforgettable episodes of nobility, agony, despair and triumph. So little recognition is given to all who took part in the war at sea by the forgotten service for them six long years of unending war from 1939-1945 where the forgotten service lost thousands of lives and ships. They witness death by torpedoes, magnetic mines, bombs, and men jumping into the sea to escape the fury of burning tankers, only to die a horrific death. Some men were stuck in lifeboats for days on end in traumatic weather conditions, only to die a frozen lingering death. The Merchant Marine lost more men than any other service in WWII. After 67 years, HMAS Sydney was found. Let us remember over six hundred Officer’s and men whose lives were lost: 1400 officer’s and men lost on HM Hood, and all the officers and men who lost their lives in the Atlantic convoys, the Pacific beach heads—thousands of Merchant Marine, and Naval personal lost. The Navies the Merchant Marine were one brotherhood working and dieing together in the Oceans of this world in WWII. My book is only part of the story of the forgotten service of WWII, thanks to the dedication of many, they are slowly getting the true story out there to the General public and their place in history will be guaranteed. No one be it the Queen, Governments past and present can distort history; our people and our nation can see that history is corrected. The crude attempt to cover up the truth to which our nation is entitled to know, the deceptions are unforgivable but the truth is shattering. Lost ships lie in silence, the bodies of men long forgotten. The lost ships and men against the odds need to be told and the secret of the deepest oceans of the world are to be unlocked for the entire world to see. There may just be a glimmer of justice and hope beneath the depths. At last the oceans that secure the secret truth will be unveiled. "Lest We Forget”