Reverend Fr Roland Owens was an Australian Military Chaplain who served with Australian troops overseas in World War II. He returned to Australia on board the Asturias in June 1947, and befriended Irish nuns who were migrating to Australia to serve in the Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy, Brisbane, Queensland.
He wrote a poem about the childrens' concert on board the ship ('I Heard The Children Singing'), and was persuaded by the Sisters to write a poem about them which he titled 'Strange Women'! He also wrote a poem 'Ireland to Australia' which tells of the voyage. Sr Angela Mary Doyle kept copies of the poems and provided them for this site.
(Click on poems to enlarge)
He wrote a poem about the childrens' concert on board the ship ('I Heard The Children Singing'), and was persuaded by the Sisters to write a poem about them which he titled 'Strange Women'! He also wrote a poem 'Ireland to Australia' which tells of the voyage. Sr Angela Mary Doyle kept copies of the poems and provided them for this site.
(Click on poems to enlarge)
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Army Chaplain's Poems
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Ship's Voyage Logs
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Statistics about the Ship
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