The following passage is from The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of Sister Myrle Mary Eileen Moston held on 6 June 2013: "Born in Trangie, New South Wales, in 1907, Myrle enjoyed growing up in the wide open spaces of the Western Plains. Her parents, Alfred and Elizabeth Moston, ran the local hotel. After a move to Sydney during the Great Depression, Myrle worked as a stenographer before beginning her nursing training. She enlisted in the Australian Army Nursing Service in 1941."
"With the outbreak of fighting in New Guinea, the Allied Army there needed constant resupply as well as medical evacuation for sick and wounded troops. In January 1943 the
Centaur, a passenger and cargo ship which had been operating along the Western Australian coast for twenty years, was converted into a hospital ship capable of carrying almost 300 patients. Sister Moston was posted on board."
"In early May 1943, the ship set out from Sydney Harbour for its ill-fated second voyage, heading north to Cairns. On board were members of the 2/12th Field Ambulance, 12 nurses from the Australian Army Nursing Service, and 68 seamen from the ship's crew."
"At approximately 4:10 am on Friday, 14 May 1943, with many of those on board sound asleep in their bunks, Australian Hospital Ship
Centaur was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine off the coast of Queensland, despite being ablaze with lights and clearly marked with red crosses."
"Sister Ellen Savage, the only survivor among the 12 nurses later wrote: My cabin mate, Myrle Moston and myself were awakened by two terrific explosions and practically thrown out of bed. Sister Moston and I were so shocked we did not even speak, but I registered mentally that it was a torpedo explosion. We rushed to the porthole, looked out, and saw the ship ablaze."
"Still in their pyjamas, they rushed to the deck and jumped overboard together. Myrle was struck by a piece of falling timber and died in the water; she was 35 years old. In three minutes the ship had sunk. Of the 322 crew and staff on board, only 64 survived."