The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (3/400868) Private John Philip Saunders, 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, Korean War

The Last Post Ceremony is presented in the Commemorative area of the Australian War Memorial each day. The ceremony commemorates more than 102,000 Australians who have given their lives in war and other operations and whose names are recorded on the Roll of Honour. At each ceremony the story behind one of the names on the Roll of Honour is told. Hosted by Richard Cruise, the story for this day was on (3/400868) Private John Philip Saunders, 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, Korean War.

3/400868 Private John Philip Saunders, 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment
Presumed dead 25 January 1953
Photograph: P09264.001

Story delivered 24 October 2013

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private John Philip Saunders of the 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment.

The Saunders family first arrived in Canberra in 1914, settling in the inner-south suburb of Kingston. A Second World War veteran, John enlisted on 9 January 1953 as part of the United Nations forces defending South Korea from the Communist force of North Korea. In the years after the Korean War began on 25 June 1950, more than 17,000 Australians would serve in Korea.

Being stationed in a foreign country a long way from the comforts of home is a hardship that many servicemen and servicewomen endured. Like soldiers in previous wars, Saunders used letter writing as a way of staying close to loved ones, including his wife, Joan, and two young sons. He wrote in a letter to his son: "Look after Mummy with Ian for Daddy until I get back home & Cheerio for now my boy and God bless you and keep you from harm."

In letters home to his family he described the conditions in South Korea as "freezing cold and very dirty". Letters were often written in pencil, as the ink in pens would freeze up in the extreme conditions.

During the evening of 25 January 1953 Saunders took part in a "snatch patrol" in the Jamestown Line area. Its purpose was to capture an enemy soldier for questioning. Saunders and his group moved silently across a snow covered open plain, penetrating enemy lines. The patrol was met by strong enemy opposition on three sides, with the Australians suffering heavy losses during the raid. Thirteen men failed to return from the operation. Some were taken prisoner, and their Chinese captors told them that Australians were known as "the men with the big hats, and were respected as fighters".

Six Australian soldiers, including Saunders, were never seen again. Witnesses to the operation believed that Saunders had been seriously wounded by a grenade blast, and left by the Chinese to die where he fell. His body was never recovered, and is believed to be buried somewhere in the demilitarised zone separating North and South Korea. John Saunders would have turned 26 the day after he was reported missing in action.

Mrs Joan Saunders received the telegram reporting her husband as missing in action on 27 January 1953. A few weeks later she received official word that he had been presumed dead with no known grave. He had served in Korea for little more than two weeks.

Private John Saunders' name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my left, along with 339 others who were killed in the Korean War. His photograph is displayed today beside the Pool of Reflection.

This is one of the many stories of courage and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Private John Philip Saunders, and all of those Australians who have given their lives in the service of our nation.