Bid to bring lost ‘Nauru 5’ war heroes home at last without government support

Five all but forgotten but incredibly brave Australian war heroes who sacrificed their lives to help the people of Nauru during Japanese occupation may soon finally be coming home.

Lieutenant Colonel Frederick Chalmers (seated front middle) with staff while serving in Belgium in World War II. Also a veteran of the Boer War and World War I, Lt Colonel Chalmers volunteered with four other Australians to remain on the Pacific island despite the looming Japanese invasion, to try to protect and care for the islanders in his charge.

Five all but forgotten but incredibly brave Australian war heroes who sacrificed their lives to help the people of Nauru during Japanese occupation may soon finally be coming home.

Next week marks 80 years since the “Nauru 5” – administrator Frederick Chalmers and four others – were brutally slain by Japanese forces in a reprisal for a US bombing raid.

The five Australians volunteered to remain after the evacuation of their families and most other Westerners in February 1942, believing it “just and right” to continue to do their best for Nauruans. Their remains are thought to still lie where they were murdered – beheaded, bayoneted or shot, depending on which testimony you believe – behind dunes on March 25, 1943.

A group of volunteer forensic archaeologists is preparing to travel to Nauru mid this year to try to locate, identify and repatriate these little known heroes.

Dr Bernard Quin, one of the “Nauru 5” murdered by Japanese soldiers, photographed with damage to the island's infrastructure caused by bombing before the island fell in August 1942.

“I think we owe it to them,” said Scott Seymour, an amateur historian whose years of research has brought the story to light and helped identify the men’s likely resting place.

“It’s easy to put someone’s name on a memorial or in a book. That’s a great thing to do, but I think we owe them more than that. If we can find them, we should; at least we should make the effort. And if we can find them, for the sacrifices they made, and for their families, we need to bring them home. If someone gives their life in service of their country, that country owes them.”

The team includes Matthew Kelly, an archaeologist involved with a program repatriating Japanese war remains from Papua New Guinea, and experienced forensic archaeologist Jon Sterenberg. Professor Soren Blau, from the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine, is also providing advice.

William Doyle.

Frederick Harmer.

“Some relatives of the five men (Lieutenant Colonel Chalmers, William Doyle, Frederick Harmer, Bernard Quin and Wilfred Shugg) have provided DNA samples, so if remains are found, we can compare them,” Dr Kelly said.

While the gravesite had been investigated and identified by the army’s Unrecovered War Casualties unit, the federal government had refused to fund the excavation and repatriation because the men – despite several being ex-military and members of the Nauru Defence Force – were not serving military when murdered.

Dr Bernard Quin.

Wilfred Shugg.

“They just seem to have fallen through the cracks, and no one seemed to be taking responsibility for them,” Dr Kelly said.

While backed by some generous private philanthropy to get to Nauru, the group would be looking for further funds to complete their mission.

Roy Ramage, grandson of Lieutenant Colonel Chalmers, hailed the efforts as “wonderful”. “My mother, before she passed, said ‘wouldn’t it be wonderful if they could bring my father home’,” he said. It was hoped his grandfather – a decorated veteran of three wars (the Boer War, World War I and his service on Nauru in World War II) – would finally be laid to rest alongside family and forebears in Bagdad, Tasmania.

Lieutenant Colonel Frederick Chalmers during his period as administrator on Nauru.

“He’s the only one missing from that churchyard, so from the family’s perspective, it would be a lovely thing,” Mr Ramage said. “The man is a war hero.”

Mr Ramage thought it “a bit stiff” the government would not fund the repatriation. “They died performing their duty – the Japanese certainly treated them that way,” he said. His grandfather has been described as incredibly resilient, feisty and good humoured. “My aunt always used to say he liked a good scrap,” he said.

In a letter home in January 1942, Lieutenant Colonel Chalmers pleaded with family to respect his decision to stay and face the Japanese. “Personally, I consider it is my job to so do and I want you all to accept that viewpoint and smile, smile, smile,” he wrote. Eighty years on, surviving relatives are hoping to have reason to smile once more if the men can be found and at long last welcomed home.

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