The Sinking of the Yoahanbarass
27 Dec 2009, 8:26 PM
Mazin Rafeeq
In 1943 war was raging in Europe and the Pacific. The Asian mainland was itself crumbling under the might of the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy, with 1941-42 seeing the fall of Burma, Malaysia and Singapore.
Even the isolated Maldives was feeling the effects of war. Food shortages led to people eating bark from trees, a national suffering that would later become known as ‘Bodu Thadhu’, directly translated as ‘ big famine’.
The British had beefed up their presence in the country. The admiralty felt Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) unsuitable to for a base after the fall of Singapore, so a naval base was established in Seenu Gan on the southernmost tip of the Maldives. This would be many Maldivians only exposure to the war.
That was not the case for the 40 unfortunate passengers aboard the ‘Yoahanbarass’, a cargo vessel running regular trips from Seenu Hithadhoo.
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