LEADERS SALUTE BRAVERY
PRIME Minister Malcolm Turnbull spoke yesterday of the anguish those who fought in the Battle of the Coral Sea must have felt as aircraft went down and ships were attacked 75 years ago.
As dawn broke across Townsville, survivors of the battle and families of those lost joined Mr Turnbull at a service to remember the sacrifices made during the 1942 battle.
He told the crowd gathered at the Coral Sea Memorial at Anzac Park that our freedoms were secured by the bravery of the pilots and the men who fought on the ships.
“We will never know the grim anxiety of the ships’ company scanning the skies for incoming enemy bombers but also hoping and praying to see their own pilots returning safely from raids and reconnaissance missions,” Mr Turnbull said.
“We’ll never know the courage of the pilots who spent the last of their fuel in battle knowing they would never make it back to their ship and we’ll never know the anguish of the sailors listening intently to radio communications who heard the heartfelt farewell from those brave men as they prepared to meet their death.”
Mr Turnbull was one of several dignitaries at the service, with Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, Governor- General Sir Peter Cosgrove and Mayor Jenny Hill also in attendance.
The battle is remembered as the first naval battle fought entirely by Allied carrier- borne aircraft where opposing fleets did not meet.
The US and Australian naval and air forces fought side- by- side, taking on the imperial Japanese Army to prevent them from invading Port Moresby.
Survivor Cecil Wiswell, who was only 17 when his ship, the USS Lexington, was sunk during the battle, laid a wreath during the touching service.
He said he still remembered his last moments on the ship as it was under attack.
“We were there in close range of the enemy fleet probably for about three days,” Mr Wiswell said.
“We never saw their ships, but we saw their planes for sure.
“The bombs and the torpedoes started hitting us, but I wasn’t worried it would do much damage to us because I had faith in the ship’s integrity, but we started listing.
“I stayed aboard the ship after they abandoned ship for quite a while with the feeling maybe we could salvage her and then all of a sudden she dropped I guess 10 degrees further and I said: ‘ Well, it’s time to go.’”
Sir Peter said many men lost their lives in the historic battle.
“These sailors and airmen offered life and sacrifice in our name,” he said.
“They may not have expressed their reasons in this way but we know that fundamentally they did what they did for the greater good.
“For victory in the Pacific, for peace. And sadly, inevitably, many paid the highest price.”