Lost Australians heroes’ execution site and grave believed to be on Nauru beach — but who will bring them home?

FIVE Australian civilians were beheaded, bayoneted and buried alive in a terrifying war crime. Now, 75 years on, experts believe they have found where the bodies lie.

THE lost burial site of five extraordinarily courageous Australians, brutally murdered by the Japanese in WWII, is believed to have been discovered on the island of Nauru.

But there are no government funds to exhume the men and bring them home — because they died as civilians not as serving soldiers, even though they were working for Canberra.

“If we can bring our boys home, and soon, then it should be done,” said Andrew “Roy” Ramage, the grandson of the group’s leader, Boer War and WW1 hero Frederick Royden Chalmers.

The sentiment is backed by MP Andrew Wilkie, who is pushing Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop to have the men brought home.

Time to bring them home ... Andrew Ramage, with a picture of his grandfather Fredrick Royden Chalmers, who was executed with four other Australians by the Japanese on Nauru during WWII.

The story of Chalmers and his group is at once tragic and inspiring. And in an unexpected happy twist this final chapter has brought together two sides of Chalmers’ family, separated by a cruel act a century ago.

Today a memorial plaque to the much-admired officer, decorated for his bravery on the Western Front leading South Australia’s 27th Battalion, will be unveiled in his hometown of Bagdad, Tasmania.

Local family from Chalmers’ second marriage will be joined by 25 relatives, descendants of an earlier union, from the mainland. Until recently, each side barely knew the other existed — because after Chalmers’ first wife died in Victoria in 1913, her mother took custody of his three children and refused him access.

Fast-forward three decades and Chalmers is the Australian administrator on Nauru, stationed there with second wife Lenna and their four girls.

Knowing a Japanese invasion force is coming, the Australian government and phosphate mining delegation’s families are evacuated — but Chalmers and four others bravely petition Canberra to stay, rather than abandon the native population. Prime Minister John Curtin agrees.

The men — Chalmers, 62, NSW-born WW1 light horse veteran William Doyle, 47, and ex-army doctor Bernard Quin, 48, medical assistant Wilfred Shugg and 44-year-old engineer Frederick Harmer, all from Victoria — are immediately imprisoned by the enemy.

A year later, as American bombers raid the island on March 25, 1943, the five are dragged out, driven to the beach, lined up in front of a hole and simultaneously bayoneted, slashed with a sword and — in one case — shot.

Murdered ... Dr Bernard Quin (seated) and Wilfred Shugg (standing on right) at the hospital on Nauru before the Japanese invasion.

The hole is filled in, with at least two of the men still alive, and almost forgotten.

More than 70 years later, a dogged piece of detective work by Tasmanian historian Scott Seymour has narrowed down the possible murder site — and a preliminary on-site investigation has already been undertaken by the Unrecovered War Casualties (Army) unit of the Australian Army Defence Force, funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs.

However neither group is in a position to fund further investigation and potential recovery operations, although they have offered in-location logistical support.

“Defence’s survey mission was inconclusive. It found a likely location of the site, but noted that there were issues with the reliability of evidence, that the remains might have been disturbed since their original burial and that they might not have survived in-situ,” said a DFAT spokesman.

“The only way to be certain would be to excavate the site, which Defence estimates could cost up between $50,000 and $150,000. These costs would include DNA identification and repatriation of the remains, should they be found. Defence has advised that it is also unable to fund the excavation, because it is only funded to recover the remains of Defence personnel killed while on active service. However, Defence continues to offer advice through its expert archaeological and research teams, where it is able to do so.”

Execution site ... this is the beach on Nauru where Japanese witnesses said the men were killed and buried. Picture: Alamy News

Archaeologists organised by Sydney-based archaeology firm Extent Heritage, who have worked on the Kokoda Track, estimate the project could cost as little as $35,000 and are prepared to do the work unpaid. They are already aware of one benefactor prepared to chip in a third of the estimated cost, but will need more support to complete DNA testing and repatriate the remains.

“I would like to see some official recognition of his efforts,” said Launceston-based Mr Ramage. “Bringing them home is a major part of any theatre of war and if he was on duty — which he was, having been officially tasked by Canberra, then they should bring him home.”

Grandson Graham McDonald, part of the Victorian branch of the family from Chalmers’ first marriage, is heading to the reunion and he agrees.

“It would be very nice to have him interred at home.”

Members of the Quin family — including some of the doctors’ surviving children — would like Australians to know of the sacrifice of their father and the other four. They are recognised on a memorial in Nauru but their story is barely known here.

Pushing for government support ... MP Andrew Wilkie wants the site to be excavated.

Acknowledge his bravery ... Dr Bernard Quin and the others showed great courage.

Grand-daughter Catherine Dunn, a nurse from Melbourne’s Sandringham, said: “My nanna, Mary, received a War Widow’s pension, so the government at the time must have accepted that they were responsible for the family. It’s just sad that they have never acknowledged their bravery at all.

“The family just wanted some acknowledgment for their dad. He died as a civilian so they can’t acknowledge him on Anzac Day, or at the Australian War Memorial. They never had a funeral so he was just sort of gone from their lives.”

Tasmanian independent MP and former Army officer Mr Wilkie, who is supporting the campaign, said: “Lieutenant Colonel Chalmers was a remarkable man with a significant career including service in the Boer War, World War I and as the Administrator of Nauru during World War II.

Final farewell ... a colourised plate of Frederick Royden Chalmers on Nauru with his wife and children, just before they were evacuated. He told them he wished to see his family reunited once more; and that will happen today, 75 years later.

It will be a fitting tribute for this remarkable Tasmanian for a memorial to be created in his home town of Bagdad, and I applaud Scott Seymour’s tireless efforts to make this a reality.

“I have approached the Federal Government repeatedly to do whatever they can to recover the bodies of Lieutenant Colonel Chalmers and the four other Australians murdered on Nauru in 1943 by the Japanese. While it is regrettable that official support has been limited, it is wonderful that a benefactor has stepped in.

“I will continue to lobby the government to provide further assistance beyond the additional funding for a surveying mission that they have already provided, not least because the location of the remains has almost certainly been found and it would be a shame to waste the time and money that has been spent so far.”

Wartime prize ... US bombers hit Japanese-occupied Nauru.

Originally published as Lost Australians heroes’ execution site and grave believed to be on Nauru beach — but who will bring them home?