The evacuation of women and children from Rabaul in December 1941

<p dir="ltr">Using oral history substantiated by primary sources from the National Archives, newspapers and secondary sources, this thesis reveals the stories of European and some multiracial women and children who were evacuated from the New Guinea Islands in the Territory of New Guinea in December 1941 before the Japanese invasion in January 1942. The thesis reviews why these Australian women lived in the New Guinea Islands, shows how the evacuations took place and considers the racism that became apparent during the compulsory evacuation of December 1941.</p><p dir="ltr">The thesis considers how the evacuees subsisted within the wartime economy after arriving in Australia and overcoming the difficulties of supporting their families. Further, it reviews this subsistence through the lens of wartime displacement and separation from their husbands. The loss of the prison ship Montevideo Maru and the issues that became apparent to those who evacuated the New Guinea Islands concludes the thesis. Illustrating the effect of the loss of the Montevideo Maru on the lives of the evacuees and explaining the methods used by the government to determine the fate of their husbands highlights the issues created when there were no physical remains available for identification. The thesis further outlines the investigations undertaken in Japan and Australia to determine who perished on the Montevideo Maru—revealing that the Japanese records failed to give any information about eight civilians who were not on board the ship.</p>