Plaque - MV Gorgon

DESCRIPTION

Accession NumberP382Title (extended title only)Plaque - MV GorgonDescriptionThis plaque has a wooden base and topped with a brass inscription. The inscription reads “PRESENTED TO OFFICERS & CREW OF M.V. GORGON TO COMMERORATE THE VOYAGE OF THE 62 AUST. INF. BN. A.I.F. FEB. – MARCH. 1944”. Below this are two ribbons with Javanese or Indonesian writing, reading “SABEN ORANG HARIMAU BERDARRA” translated literally to English it roughly says “Every person bleeding tiger” but most likely means “Fighting men with tigers blood” as the sticker on the back of the plaque says.DateBetween 1st February 1944 and 31st March 1944ProvenanceThe MV Gorgon was a passenger and cargo ship built by the Caledon Shipbuilding & Engineering Company in Dundee, Scotland, a shipbuilding company that was founded in 1874 and closed 1981. Building of the ship was completed in October 1933 and it then operated along north-west, Java and Singapore routes for the West Australian Steam Navigation Company. During WWII the MV Gorgon was utilised for the war, mostly transporting soldiers and cargo between Australia and Southeast Asia. It was scrapped on 10 August 1964.
The 62nd Australian Infantry Battalion initially established in 1917 but was disbanded before active service in WWI. It was revived in 1942 and deployed in Merakue, at the time in Dutch New Guinea now South Papua, to defend against Japanese forces. Prior to WWII, Indonesia was under a Dutch colonial regime and referred to as Dutch East Indies and from 8 March 1942 was occupied by Imperial Japan following a 10 January 1942 invasion. Merakue was one of the few areas Dutch East Indies not under Japanese occupation in 1942. In February 1944 the 62nd Battalion were relieved by the 20th Motor Regiment and voyaged back to Australia, arriving in Brisbane in March. They disbanded in May 1944 and the personnel were mostly dispersed between the 9th Division and the 2/15th Battalion. A newspaper entry in the 31 August 1946 edition of the West Australian from a former member of the 62nd Battalion, C. E. Hill, explains that the battalion was made up nearly entirely of Western Australians.
This plaque would have been gifted to the crew of the M.V. Gorgon by the 62nd Battalion. The “Saben Orang Harimau Berdarra” written on the plaque is likely their motto, embracing the location they were stationed and adopting the local language for their motto. This cannot be confirmed but it is unlikely to be a motto associated with the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army, who used Dutch, and certainly would not be a motto associated with the Imperial Japanese Army.Relevance to the CityHigh relevance as the M.V Gorgon was a West Australian ship and some of the 62nd Battalion were from Western Australia.

SubjectShippingWorld War, 1939-1945 - Naval operationsCollectionCivic Collection

INTERNAL

LocationCivic Collection

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