The discovery of Centaur, a ship lost during World War II, has evoked powerful emotions in relatives of those killed.
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Two Dubbo residents, John Ross Thompson and Anne Priestley, said they were glad the wreck had been found but hoped it could be left where it was because it had become a grave site for those killed, including their relatives.
The AHS Centaur was a hospital ship used during World War II , sunk by a torpedo released by a Japanese submarine on May 14, 1943, about 50 nautical miles east north-east of Brisbane.
Of the 332 persons on board, only 64 survived.
Shipwreck hunters found the ship on Sunday, and there are plans to begin filming the wreck in January.
Ms Priestley’s father, Reginald McGregor Blackman, was working as a second field ambulance on the boat when he was killed during the attack.
At that time Ms Priestley was just nine months old and yesterday was feeling “mixed emotions” about the discovery.
“It is a good thing because it gives so many people the opportunity to let go,” she said.
“I just think that knowing it has been found, people have got somewhere to show where their relatives are.”
She still feels “appaled” that the Japanese could blow a hospital ship “out of the water”.
Ms Priestley’s biggest question was why did the attack happen, when it went against the Geneva Convention.
“I find the whole thing quite emotional and I can’t follow it too closely,” Ms Priestley said.
“I can’t watch war movies and I don’t have any baby photos because mum sent them to dad and they were lost.”
Mr Thomspson’s identical twin brother Donald Leo Thompson was also working as a second twelfth field ambulance on the ship and Mr Thompson said he was glad to finally have closure.
Yesterday he was happy the ship was found, however did not want it disturbed.