Before Kokoda, before the bombing of Darwin, Australia came under attack from the full might of the Japanese Empire – Rabaul, 1942. In the ensuing carnage of aerial bombardments and an armada not seen in Australian waters before, a small garrison of Australian soldiers, forgotten by many, made a courageous stand against an insurmountable force. Some men would escape, some would be shipped to Japan, but most – over 1,000 in fact would perish in Australia’s greatest maritime disaster, THE TRAGEDY OF THE MONTEVIDEO MARU.