The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (VX5802) Acting Corporal Albert Frederick Kemp, 2/7th Battalion, Second World War

Place Middle East: Syria
Accession Number PAFU2014/172.01
Collection type Film
Object type Last Post film
Physical description 16:9
Maker Australian War Memorial
Place made Australia: Australian Capital Territory, Canberra, Campbell
Date made 27 May 2014
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. Hosted by , the story for this day was on (VX5802) Acting Corporal Albert Frederick Kemp, 2/7th Battalion, Second World War.

Film order form
Speech transcript

VX5802 Acting Corporal Albert Frederick Kemp, 2/7th Battalion
KIA 13 February 1942
Photograph: P05042.005

Story delivered 27 May 2014

Today we remember Acting Corporal Albert Frederick Kemp, who died from his wounds in 1942 while serving with the 2/7th Battalion.

Kemp was born on 15 April 1915 in Footscray, a working-class suburb of Melbourne. Known as "Albie", he was the eldest child of Albert and Esther Kemp. Albie's father served in the Australian Imperial Force during the Great War, and his uncle was award a Military Cross for his service on the Western Front.

After leaving school Kemp worked as a labourer/iron worker and later ran a small confectionary shop in Brunswick. In 1934 he married Gladys Lee and the couple had three daughters; Kathleen, Wilma, and Barbara.

Kemp enlisted in the AIF on 20 October 1939, joining the newly raised 2/7th Battalion. Later in the war his younger brother Harold would serve in the same battalion. Their father, too, served in the militia.

In April 1940 the 2/7th Battalion left Australia for overseas service, and spent the rest of the year training in Palestine and Egypt. During this time Kemp wrote home regularly with many letters, pressed flowers, and greeting cards from Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Damascus, and other sites from the Holy Land. In Australia, however, the strain of raising three young children alone proved too much for Gladys Kemp, and at Albie's request the girls went to live their maternal great-grandmother.

Following the Italian attack into Egypt, the 6th Division spearheaded the British Commonwealth counter-attack into Libya in January 1941, and the 2/7th Battalion had a prominent role in capturing the Italian fortresses of Bardia and Tobruk.

In early April the battalion moved to Greece along with the other Australian, New Zealand, and British troops. That month the Germans invaded the north and rapidly overwhelmed both Greek and Commonwealth defenders. Kemp's battalion was evacuated from the mainland, but the following day the ship carrying it was damaged by German aircraft, and those on board were taken to the Greek island of Crete to join a collection of Commonwealth troops.

Following an invasion by German paratroopers in May the 2/7th Battalion became involved in the bloody fighting around Canea. At an area dubbed "42nd Street", the battalion launched a bayonet charge that temporally rebuffed the Germans but, though brave, such actions did little to change the outcome of the battle. Later that month the battalion fought as part of the rear-guard force that helped cover the evacuation of the last Commonwealth troops. Most of the 2/7th were captured and became prisoners of war; of the 33 officers and 726 men who had embarked for Greece in April only seven officers and 65 men were with the battalion when it reformed in Palestine in June. Kemp was among the few who were evacuated.

The battalion helped garrison Syria for the rest of the year and into early 1942. On 13 February, however, Kemp was killed in action. He was buried in the Gaza War Cemetery with full military honours. The 2/7th Battalion's war diary noted that Kemp's burial "was attended by many members of the [Battalion]". He was 26 years old.

Kemp's platoon commander described him as a "very competent soldier, and a proud and happy member of the 2nd AIF".

Acting Corporal Albert Frederick Kemp is also commemorated on the Roll of Honour on my left, along with some 40,000 Australians who died during the Second World War. His photograph is displayed today beside the Pool of Reflection.

We now remember his service and all of those Australians who have given their lives in the service of our nation.

  • Video of The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (VX5802) Acting Corporal Albert Frederick Kemp, 2/7th Battalion, Second World War (video)