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The monument commemorates those from the Rabaul Garrison who who died in service or were killed in action in 1942 during World War Two. The tablet contains the names of three Tasmanians who lost their lives at Rabaul and 36 members of the garrison who were lost in the Montevideo Maru while prisoners of the Japanese. 

In 1941 a small Australian Army garrison of approximately 1,400 personnel was sent to Rabaul, New Britain to garrison the outpost, protect its airfields and seaplane anchorages and act as a link in a chain of observation posts across the northern frontiers. An advance party of 8 officers and 33 other ranks arrived in Rabaul on the 16th March 1941 on board the Neptuna. The small Australian garrison at Rabaul was overwhelmed by the Japanese on January 23, 1942. The invasion led to a futile attempt to ward off the 20,000 Japanese invasion force, only 400 out of an Australian garrison of 1400 escaped.

Montevideo Maru was a Japanese auxiliary ship that was sunk in World War Two, resulting in the drowning of many Australian prisoners of war and civilians being transported from Rabaul. Unmarked as a POW ship, she was proceeding without escort to the Chinese island of Hainan, when she was sighted by the American submarine Sturgeon near the northern Phillipine coast on 30 June 1942 . Unaware that it was carrying Allied prisoners of war and civilians, Sturgeon fired four torpedoes at Montevideo Maru before dawn of 1 July, causing the vessel to sink in only 11 minutes. 

Relatives and former comrades paid homage to fallen Tasmanian members of the Rabaul Garrison at Cornelian Bay War Memorial Cemetery, Hobart, on Saturday, when a commemorative tablet was dedicated and unveiled. On the tablet, which was erected by the Rabaul Fortress Relatives' Association, are inscribed the names of three Tasmanians who were killed in the Japanese landing at Rabaul on June 22, 1942, and of 36 members of the garrison who were lost in the Montevideo Maru, while prisoners. The ship is believed to have been torpedoed off Luzon in July, 1942. The dedication ceremony was performed by the Rev H. Shepherd, of Sandy Bay, a former garrison artillery chaplain. The tablet was unveiled by Mr J. R. P. Clark, a former major, who commanded the Rabaul Fortress. Among the 150 persons present were the Naval Offlcer-in-Charge (Commander Ramage), the Military Commandant (Brig Dollery), and Sq-Ldr Kinnimont (R.A.A.F.).
Mercury (Hobart), 5 July 1948.

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