What is the Montevideo (IN THE VALLEY)?
The Montevideo Maru was a Japanese POW ship during WWII. When the Japanese overran the northern coast of New Guinea, many of the prisoners were put aboard this ship which had very few of the amenities of life. A few days after leaving New Guinea to return to the Japanese POW camps, the ship sank. From the lyrics, it is assumed that Peter Garrett’s grandfather was among those lost.
