"Joyce"Print Page

The monument commemorates seven workmen who perished when the launch Joyce sank in 1948.  A memorial to the victims of the Joyce disaster was eventually erected outside the Nielsen Slipper Factory in Railway Street, Woy Woy. It is believed to have stood there up until the early 1960s. The memorial was moved to the Waterfront Reserve at Koolewong, where it was vandalised and neglected. Today, the restored monument stands at the entrance to Point Clare Cemetery.

In May 1948, a party of workmates from the Nielsen slipper factory (the 1907 built `old` Bayview Hotel) planned a weekend fishing trip. A 22 foot cabin launch "Joyce", was borrowed from the father of one of the group. They left Ettalong anticipating a good catch. On Sunday 16th May a south-westerly gale blew up, which was described by fishermen as possibly the strongest in 10 years. On Monday morning of the 17th May it was reported that two launches with a total of 11 people were missing. Another launch Syd had left Patonga, and was last seen off West Head.

An extensive search involving RAAF Catalinas from Rathmines, and search and rescue vessels failed to find any trace of either the Joyce or the Syd.  Eventually, all 7 men aboard the Joyce were believed drowned. 

GOSFORD, Sunday. A 12 foot high granite obelisk to the memory of the seven members of the 22-foot launch Joyce, which left Ettalong 12 months ago yesterday and has not been seen again, was unveiled this afternoon in the grounds where the men had worked in a slipper factory at Woy Woy. More than 500 relatives and friends of the men saw the unveiling by the Managing-Director (Mr. F. L. Neilsen), who contributed £1000 to the cost of the obelisk. On the same day 12 months ago the 16-foot launch, Sid, with three men and a youth on board, also vanished from Patonga, a few miles south. 
Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate (NSW), 
16 May 1949.

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