The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (PA3954) Able Seaman Jack Annear, HMAS Australia (II), 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 Craig Berelle, the story for this day was on (PA3954) Able Seaman Jack Annear, HMAS Australia (II), Second World War.

PA3954 Able Seaman Jack Annear, HMAS Australia (II)
KIA 5 January 1945
No photograph in collection

Story delivered 5 January 2015

Today we remember Able Seaman Jack Annear and those members of HMAS Australia (II) killed in 1945 while fighting to liberate the Philippines from Japanese occupation.

Jack Annear was born on 7 April 1925 and grew up in Torrensville, an inner-western suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. He was one of several children of Albert and Doris Annear. He attended Cowandilla School, was a keen swimmer, and captained the Richmond school football team when it won the district premiership. In May 1943 Annear was 18 years old, and was working for Holden as a machinist when he enlisted in the Royal Australian Navy. His eldest brother, Albert Annear, had already been called up for the army and would serve in New Guinea and New Britain.

Jack Annear was five-foot-three-inches tall, with brown hair, blue eyes and a fresh complexion. He was posted as an ordinary seaman to HMAS Cerberus, the navy’s training establishment on Western Port Bay in Victoria in July. In August 1943 he was posted to the heavy cruiser HMAS Australia (II).

After months of patrolling duties in the Coral Sea and Australian waters, in November 1943 the Australia began supporting American forces in a series of amphibious operations against Japanese territory in New Georgia, New Britain, and New Guinea. In January–February 1944 the heavy cruiser underwent an eight-week refit before participating in another series of American landings in western New Guinea. In March Annear was promoted to able seaman. In May Australia provided fire support for the battle of Wakde Island, and the American invasion of the Noemfoor islands in western New Guinea in July.

By mid-1944, the Allies were preparing to return to the Philippines. On 20 October American forces landed on Leyte Island in the Philippines. The next major phase in the campaign was the invasion of Luzon Island in Lingayen Gulf, which began on 9 January 1945.

The Japanese fiercely opposed every phase of the American offensive at sea, in the air, and on land. In Leyte Gulf, Australia was hit by a Japanese suicide aircraft on 21 October 1944, killing 30 officers and ratings.

In January 1945, Australia was again in the thick of the action in battle of Lingayen Gulf. The heavy cruiser was hit five times over five days, killing another 44 men in total. At about 5.35 pm on 5 January a Japanese kamikaze plane crashed on the port side of the upper deck amidships and exploded in a fireball.

Twenty-five men were killed and 30 were wounded. Annear was among the dead. He was 19 years old.

Jack Annear is commemorated on the Plymouth Naval Memorial in Britain. His name is also listed on the Roll of Honour on my left, along with some 40,000 others from the Second World War.

This is but one of the many stories of service and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Able Seaman Jack Annear and all those Australians who have given their lives in the service of our nation.

Dr Karl James
Historian, Military History Section

Sources:
Jack Annear service record, National Archive of Australia (NAA), Canberra: A6770, Annear J;

G. Hermon Gill, Royal Australian Navy 1942–1945, Australian War Memorial, Canberra, 1969

“HMAS Australia casualties”, The Advertiser (Adelaide), 29 January 1945

“Torrensville AB killed”, The Mail (Adelaide), 27 January 1945.