The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (F3485) Able Seaman Peter Septimus Utting, 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 Gerard Pratt, the story for this day was on (F3485) Able Seaman Peter Septimus Utting, HMAS Australia (II), Second World War.

F3485 Able Seaman Peter Septimus Utting, HMAS Australia (II)
KIA 6 January 1945
No photograph in collection

Story delivered 6 January 2015

Today we remember Able Seaman Peter Septimus Utting and those killed aboard HMAS Australia (II) in January 1945 while fighting to liberate the Philippines from Japanese occupation.

“Sep” Utting was born on 13 August 1923 in Moulmein in lower Burma. He was the youngest of seven children born to British parents James and Elna Utting. In 1927 Elna and some of the family immigrated to Australia, settling in Cottesloe, a western suburb of Perth. Peter Utting, a veteran of the Great War, joined his family there in the mid-1930s after working in Burma for 30 years as a river pilot.

Sep Utting attended Christchurch Grammar School and was well known for his prominence in cricket, football, swimming, and boxing. He was to study science at the University of Western Australia, but instead enlisted in the RAN in March 1941 at 17 and a half. He refused to wait until he was 18, afraid the war would be over before he could get into action.

The burden of service fell heavily on the Utting family. Peter Utting served once more in the Royal Australian Navy, as did two of his sons. Two more Utting boys served in the army, and one in the Royal Australian Air Force. The eldest, Lieutenant Richard Utting, served in the Arctic convoys to the Soviet Union, only for his ship to be torpedoed by a German submarine on his way home to Australia in 1942.

Utting was posted as an ordinary seamen second class to HMAS Leeuwin in Fremantle, before being sent to HMAS Cerberus on Western Port Bay in Victoria. The next month he was rated as an ordinary seaman, and in July 1942 he was posted to the heavy cruiser HMAS Australia (II).

The Australia was operating in a joint task force with the United States Navy, and in early August supported the American invasion of Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands. Later that month Utting was promoted to able seaman, and Australia soon took up patrolling duties in 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 1944 the heavy cruiser was involved in another series of American landings in western New Guinea. Australia provided fire support for the battle of Wakde Island and later took part in the invasion of the Noemfoor islands in western New Guinea.

By mid-1944 the Allies were preparing to return to the Philippines. In October, American forces landed on Leyte Island, where Australia was hit by a Japanese suicide aircraft, killing 30 officers and ratings.

The Japanese fiercely opposed every phase of the American offensive at sea, in the air, and on land. In January 1945 Australia was again in the thick of the action in battle of Lingayen Gulf. It was hit five times over five days, killing another 44 men in total.

At about 5.45 pm on 6 January a Japanese Val dive-bomber crashed between the gun-mounts on Australia’s starboard side and exploded in a fireball, killing 14 men, including Utting. He was 21 years old.

Peter “Sep” Utting 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 Peter Septimus Utting and all of those Australians who have given their lives in service of our nation.

Dr Karl James
Historian, Military History Section

Sources:
Able Seaman Peter Septimus Utting service record, National Archive of Australia (NAA), Canberra: A6770, Utting, P.S.

“Killed in action”, Western Mail, 1 February 1945

“Youngest, eldest killed in action”, The daily news, 29 January 1945.