{"id":189915,"date":"2017-09-14T02:20:20","date_gmt":"2017-09-13T16:20:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=189915"},"modified":"2020-08-14T10:52:34","modified_gmt":"2020-08-14T00:52:34","slug":"cherbourg-celebrates-islander-links","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2017\/09\/14\/cherbourg-celebrates-islander-links\/","title":{"rendered":"Cherbourg Celebrates Islander Links"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Torres Shire Mayor Vonda Malone with Cherbourg Mayor Arnold Murray at the Cherbourg War Memorial<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

September 14, 2017<\/strong><\/p>\n

A special ceremony was held at Cherbourg on Wednesday to mark the 75th anniversary of a little-known piece of Queensland’s war history.<\/p>\n

In 1942 – at the height of the fears of Japanese invasion during World War II – a large group of Torres Strait Islander residents from Thursday, Horn and Hammond Islands were evacuated to Cherbourg.<\/p>\n

Residents and guests, including Torres Shire Mayor Vonda Malone, gathered at Cherbourg’s war memorial to lay wreaths, acknowledge the shared ties between the two communities and remember Australia’s only all-Indigenous battalion,\u00a0the Torres Strait Light Infantry.<\/p>\n

After the ceremony, the focus shifted to The Ration Shed complex where there were performances of traditional dancing by both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander groups.<\/p>\n

Compere Bevan Costello thanked Cherbourg Elder Aunty Ruth Hegarty, who was instrumental in organising the day.<\/p>\n

Aunty Ruth began to research the Torres Strait connection to Cherbourg, and turned to the Department of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships (DATSIP) for help.<\/p>\n

DATSIP Director-General Clare O’Connor said 170 evacuees – men, women and children – left the Torres Strait on two ships.<\/strong><\/p>\n

“They thought they were heading to Cairns … but the authorities stopped them from disembarking,” she said.<\/p>\n

They were then sent on to Townsville where a decision was made that they would go to Cherbourg.<\/p>\n

The Islanders travelled in two trains and arrived in March 1942.<\/p>\n

“They entered a community where there was acceptance,” Ms O’Connor said.<\/p>\n

When the war ended some people went back to the Torres Strait.<\/p>\n

“Some unfortunately did not make it back. There are Torres Strait Islanders in the Cherbourg cemetery today,” she said.<\/p>\n

Ms O’Connor said much research had been done, and this would live on in The Ration Shed Museum.<\/strong><\/p>\n

She said beche de mer (trepang) and pearling had been important industries in the Torres Strait, using Japanese divers.<\/p>\n

When the war came, some of these divers were interned while others were repatriated to Japan.<\/p>\n

And some families with Japanese connections came to Cherbourg.<\/p>\n

“I was a 13-year-old girl when the Japanese came here with the Torres Strait Islander women,” Aunty Ruth Hegarty said.<\/p>\n

“We really got involved with the Japanese people when they were here at Cherbourg.”<\/p>\n

The Japanese connection to the Torres Strait, and some Torres Strait families, was acknowledged at the 75th anniversary celebration with a special performance of Japanese drumming.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Cherbourg author and historian Lesley Williams with Aunty Ruth Hegarty whose research led to Wednesday’s celebrations<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Some of the special guests at the 75th anniversary celebration … Betty, Kevin and Cathy Foster and Selina Dorner who all travelled from Cairns for the anniversary; Betty was just eight years old when she was evacuated to Cherbourg<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
DATSIP Director-General Clare O’Connor, at back, presented Ration Shed chairperson Aunty Sandra Morgan with an historic photograph linked to the evacuation to be hung in the museum<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Torres Strait singers and musicians sung a hymn at the Cherbourg War Memorial after the laying of wreaths<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
The Wakka Gubbi dancers performed a number of dances, including this “Spirit” dance<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Torres Strait musicians, based in Brisbane, played traditional-style drums to accompany the dancers<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
The Malu Kiai Mura Baui dancers performed dances from the Torres Strait, including a sea foam dance<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
The Toko-Ton taiko (drum) group from Brisbane performed some traditional Japanese drumming<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Cherbourg’s USmob radio station broadcast live from the event to the Torres Strait via Radio 4MW … from left, Harold ‘Big Chance’ Chapman and Mindy Fisher<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A special ceremony was held at Cherbourg on Wednesday to mark the 75th anniversary of a little-known piece of Queensland’s war history.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":189917,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[16,3],"tags":[1135],"yoast_head":"\nCherbourg Celebrates Islander Links<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A special ceremony was held at Cherbourg on Wednesday to mark the 75th anniversary of a little-known piece of Queensland's war history.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2017\/09\/14\/cherbourg-celebrates-islander-links\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cherbourg Celebrates Islander 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