Name: Redlich, Rev. Vivian Frederick Barnes
Rank: Civilian
Number: n/a
Unit: n/a
Date of Death: 14th August 1942
Age: 36
Place of Death: Papua
Final Resting Place: Papua New Guinea - Civilian War Dead
Further Details:
Vivian Redlich was the son of the Rev. Canon E Basil Redlich, Rector of Little Bowden from 1924 until 1955. He was born in 1905 in South Africa, but grew up in England where his father was ordained. Vivian followed his father into the ministry, first in Wakefield then, in 1935, joining the Bush Brotherhood. He spent five years in Australia before volunteering for service in Papua. There, he enthusiastically channelled his energies into a thriving mission. Choosing to stay with his flock, when the Japanese invasion was imminent, he and fellow European workers were eventually beheaded on Buna beach. In a separate incident at about the same time, Vivian's fiancé May Hayman, an Australian nurse, was bayoneted to death by the invading Japanese army.A booklet, 'Vivian Redlich, A Modern Martyr', containing further details of his life, is available from the Church bookstall.