Descending rapidly to 107m, I found myself drifting further from the descent line and thought “I’m might not make this”, until of course the 140m long ship came into view beneath me for the first time in 70 years. With the keel on the upside down hull clearly visible, I thought I’ve finally succeeded after 12 months of planning and several failed attempts months earlier.
Since we discovered the MV Fairwind in 2009, I have been contacted by family members of all the Australian crew members. All have been understandably very happy to finally know what had happened to their brother, father, uncle, etc… Some identified with the Fairwind after the ABC’s 7:30 Report feature, and the others seem to have found my website through the power of the Internet.
I was quite surprised today to get an email from a guy in PNG, who’s great uncle was lost in the Fairwind tragedy. I was surprised as the crew list was published as 5 named Australians and 12 Papua New Guineans. Actually the newspapers of the day highlighted the social attitudes of the 1950’s and stated things like “12 blacks”, “12 niggers” and “several PNG natives”.
For the record, I’d like to add a named person to the crew list of the MV Fairwind:
Mr Cecil Himogo, Crewman, of Seasea Village, Milne Bay, PNG