Mavis ParkinsonPrint Page

The Celtic cross commemorates Mavis Parkinson who was one of the New Guinea martyrs killed by the Japanese in World War Two.

May Hayman was a nurse who ran the missionary clinic. Mavis Parkinson was the teacher at the missionary school. They survived for several months in the jungle with the assistance of Father Benson, local villagers, and a small group of Australian and American soldiers and airmen. They were ultimately delivered to the Japanese by a village councillor after the servicemen were killed and Father Benson escaped. According to a local witness, they were executed by the Japanese at Ururu Plantation. The two missionaries were made to stand over shallow graves and brutally bayoneted by the Kenpeitai after they refused to reveal any information during interrogation. In February 1943, after the Japanese were defeated in the area, the bodies of the two women were recovered and re-interred at Sangara mission station.

A Celtic Cross of grey granite has been erected in the grounds of St. Paul's Church of England, in memory of the late Miss Mavis Parkinson, who met her death on the New Guinea mission field in the recent war. The cross will be unveiled on July 31 by the Archbishop of Brisbane (Most Rev. R. C. Halse.) The memorial was a gesture by the people of Ipswich, who subscribed the money for its erection. The cross was made by F. Williams and. Co., of Ipswich.
Queensland Times (Ipswich) (Qld), 9 July 1949.

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