The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (NX31660) Private George Henry Beale, 2/20th Battalion (Infantry), Second World War

Accession Number PAFU2013/181.01
Collection type Film
Object type Last Post film
Maker Australian War Memorial
Place made Australia: Australian Capital Territory, Canberra, Campbell
Date made 1 June 2013
Access Open
Conflict Second World War, 1939-1945
Copyright Item copyright: © Australian War Memorial
Creative Commons License This item is licensed under CC BY-NC
Copying Provisions Copyright restrictions apply. Only personal, non-commercial, research and study use permitted. Permission of copyright holder required for any commercial use and/or reproduction.
Description

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. The story for this day was on (NX31660) Private George Henry Beale, 2/20th Battalion (Infantry), Second World War.

Note: There is no recording for this event

Film order form
Speech transcript

NX31660 Private George Henry Beale, 2/20th Australian Infantry Battalion
DOW 28 May 1943
Photograph: P01649.002

Story delivered 1 June 2013

Today, we remember Private George Henry Beale, of the 2/20th Australian Infantry Battalion. In honour of the great oral tradition of Indigenous Australians, we tell his story.

George Beale was born in Quirindi, New South Wales, in 1904. In June 1941, along with his younger brother Frederick, George heard the call to war and enlisted in the Australian Army. They left their wives, sisters Edith and Gladys, and three children each, and went to war.

After enlistment George and Frederick were sent to the 2/20th Battalion, which had been posted to defend the Malay peninsula in 1941. However, the Japanese forces drove the British forces steadily southwards, reaching Singapore Island by 31 January 1942. Singapore was forced to surrender on 15 February that year and the Beale brothers, along with thousands of others, were captured by the Japanese and became prisoners of war. Though initially held captive in the Changi camp, they were later sent to Japan, to work in the Naoetsu Camp. Here George worked in a steel mill under extremely harsh conditions. Prisoners were forced to run to and from the mill, a mile from the camp, on an inadequate diet. They often worked long shifts, frequently a full 24 hours, in inadequate clothing and often barefoot.

On the 28th of May 1943 George died as a result of injuries he received at the steel mill. Exhausted and suffering from malnutrition, he missed his step on a ladder and was dragged into a machine, later dying of serious wounds. In a rare moment of compassion, Beale's fellow prisoners were allowed a ten-minute funeral service before his body was taken away for cremation.

George Beale was the second of 60 Australians to die in the Naoetsu Camp in Japan between 1943 and March 1944. After the war civilian guards at the prisoner of war camp were found guilty of mistreatment, torture, and contribution to the deaths of at least 18 Australian prisoners of war.

George's younger brother Frederick survived the camp and returned home to Australia in 1945. The following year, he and his wife welcomed another son and named him Donald George Beale, in honour of his uncle who hadn't made it home.

Private George Beale was one of thousands of Indigenous Australians to serve during the Second World War. His name is listed on the Roll of Honour on your right, along with almost 40,000 others from the Second World War. His photograph is displayed today beside the Pool of Reflection. George is seen on the right and his brother Frederick is on the left.

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