The Australian Women's Register

Summary

After marrying Dr Hubbard Champion Hosking in Adelaide in 1927, Lorna Hosking and her husband moved to Kokope near Rabaul where he was the Government medial officer. Two years later they moved to Rabaul. In May 1937 there was a temporary evacuation of the town when a volcano erupted sending steam, pumice and debris 25,000 feet into the air. During World War II women and children were evacuated to Australia when the Japanese were about to invade, Dr Hosking was put on board the ‘Montevideo Maru’ by the Japanese and it was bombed by the allies off Lugan as it had no Red Cross marks. There were no survivors. Mrs Hosking remained in Adelaide with her two daughters, Margaret and Elizabeth. She worked with the War Widows Guild which had been set up by General George Vasey and his wife. Shops were set up in each state and the Guild worked to improve pensions for the widows. In 1965 the Guild extended one of their buildings. It is named ‘Lorna Hosking House’ after the then Senior Vice-President. Lorna Hosking and one of her daughters returned to Rabaul in 1986 to see the town and place where they used to holiday on the coast.