The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (NX19158) Captain Robert Charles Page, Z Special Unit, Second World 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 Meredith Duncan, the story for this day was on (NX19158) Captain Robert Charles Page, Z Special Unit, Second World War.

NX19158 Captain Robert Charles Page, Z Special Unit
Executed 7 July 1945
Photograph: 045424 (detail) or 045416

Story delivered 1 November 2013

Today we remember and pay tribute to Captain Robert Charles Page, whose photograph is displayed today beside the Pool of Reflection.

Bob Page was born on 21 July 1920 in Sydney, the eldest son of Harold and Anne Page. He attended Sydney Boys' High School and enrolled to study medicine at the University of Sydney in 1940. He left his studies a little over 12 months later to enlist in the Australian Imperial Force. Joining the 2/4th Pioneer Battalion, he was quickly promoted to the rank of lieutenant.

In 1942 Page's father, Harold, who had been a senior administrator in New Guinea, was captured by the Japanese at Rabaul. Later that year Harold Page was en route to Japan on board the Montevideo Maru with more than a thousand prisoners of war when it was torpedoed and sunk, killing all the prisoners on board.

In the same year Lieutenant Page transferred to Z Special Unit, a joint Allied unit formed to conduct clandestine operations behind Japanese lines in South East Asia. In September 1943 he took part in Operation Jaywick, devised by British officer Captain Ivan Lyon and using a dilapidated Japanese-built fishing vessel, the Krait, to sneak a crew of 14 into enemy waters. The Krait left Western Australia on the 2nd of September and arrived off Singapore about three weeks later. From there, Page and five other men paddled canoes in to Singapore Harbour and attached limpet mines to Japanese ships under cover of darkness. They destroyed or seriously damaged seven ships, more than 35,000 tonnes of shipping.

On his return, Bob Page married Roma Prowse in Canberra on the 1st of November, 1943. His role in Z Special Unit required him to keep the operation secret from Roma. Page was awarded the DSO for his "courage and devotion under extreme hazardous conditions", but because of the need for secrecy it was not officially promulgated until 1945 and Bob never knew about it.

A new raid - Operation Rimau - was being planned for the following year, and although Page, now a captain, was "suspicious of the operation" he felt compelled to take part because of his great regard for Captain Lyon.

On 11 September 1944 a party of 23, including Captain Page, were taken by submarine to the South China Sea, where they seized a local junk and sailed towards Singapore. They were discovered, however, and had to abandon the mission. Failing to return to the submarine, the party split up into four groups to try to reach Australia by small boat. Most were killed in intermittent fighting on the way south. Ten, including Captain Page, were captured and taken back to Singapore. Facing charges of espionage, they were tried and found guilty, and were beheaded on 7 July 1945, one month before the end of the war.

Roma later recalled, "We waited and waited for them to come back, but of course, they never did, and then we waited for something official." On her second wedding anniversary she received a telegram to say that he had died of illness while a prisoner of war of the Japanese. It took many years for her to discover the truth.

Robert Page was 25 years old. His name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my left, along with more than 40,000 others from the Second World War.

This is but one of the many stories of courage and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Captain Robert Charles Page, and all of those Australians who have given their lives in the service of our nation.