Thomas (Tom) Leslie Cody
Stephen LearmonthIn the early hours of the 22nd of June, 1942, 1054 prisoners of war (209 civilians and 845 military personnel) were awakened at Malaguna Road Camp on the island of New Britain, and told to get ready to move. Taken captive when the Japanese had invaded the island, they were to be taken to Japan, to be used as slave labour. Conditions on the ship were beyond humane. Little food and water, and inadequate sanitary arrangements. The outward appearance of the Montevideo Maru was that of a standard Japanese transport. There were no special markings to indicate she was carrying prisoners of war.
At 0229 hours, on the morning of July the 1st, disaster struck. Two explosions were felt, both on the starboard side in holds No. 4 and No. 5. As the ship began to list to the starboard side and began going down from her stern, the Captain called to abandon ship. At 0240 hours she disappeared completely from the surface. Of the 1054 prisoners and 88 crew on board, only approximately 20 survived. The survivors were all Japanese. The Upper Murray lost five of their own that day. Tom Cody was one of them.
The Montevideo Maru had been tracked by the US submarine USS Sturgeon, under the command of Lt. Cdr. William Wright, for over four hours. The Americans had no idea that they had just played a part in Australia’s worst maritime disaster.
In April, 2023, Sydney based Silent Foundation, and the Dutch company Fugro, located the wreck of the Montevideo Maru at a depth of more than 4000 metres, off the coast of the Philippines. No longer will the 1054 prisoners have “no known grave” next to their names.
Thomas Leslie Cody was born on the 15th of December, 1917, at Coleraine in the Western Districts of Victoria. His parents were William Joseph and Maud Bridget Cody.
Tom underwent his medical examination at Corryong on the 19th of June, 1940. Dr Greenham was the examining medical officer. One month later, at Caulfield, he signed his enlistment papers and became Private Thomas Cody VX44632. At the time he was a single 22 year-old clerk and gave his permanent address as Cudgewa. He was immediately posted to the 5th AIF Depot at Colac. In late August he was transferred to the 2/22nd Battalion based at Seymour. On the 12th of November 1940 he was graded as a Clerk Group 3 and posted to Bonegilla near Wodonga.
Tom was in the second half of the 2/22nd that embarked on the TSS Zealandia (which had been a familiar troopship to soldiers in WW1) on the 10th of April, 1941, at Sydney, with its destination being Rabaul on New Britain. Along with other Australian and New Guinea units it was to become part of Lark Force, a garrison force whose objective was to defend the strategically important harbours and airfields on New Britain.
Upon arriving in Rabaul, Tom was posted to the Military Headquarters and promoted to the rank of corporal. On the 29th of October, he asked to be reverted back to the rank of private, although the reason for this request is not known. One month later, the Army decided to promote him to lance-corporal, the rank between corporal and private. Over the four day period, from January the 20th to the 23rd, the 2/22nd HQ Company moved from Malaguna Camp, to Noah’s Mission, through to Bita Paka. Japanese records indicate that Tom was most likely captured at Londip Plantation, only 4 kilometres south-east of Bita Paka. He became POW No. 167.
Tom is remembered on the Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Ballarat Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial, the Rabaul Memorial, and the Coleraine War Memorial. For his service, he was awarded the 1939-1945 Star, the Pacific Star, the Defence Medal, the War Medal 1939-1945 and the Australian Service Medal 1939-1945.
