The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (VX64512) Corporal Alan John Newman, 2/29th Battalion, Second Australian Imperial Force, 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 Troy Clayton, the story for this day was on (VX64512) Corporal Alan John Newman, 2/29th Battalion, Second Australian Imperial Force, Second World War.

VX64512 Corporal Alan John Newman, 2/29th Battalion, Second Australian Imperial Force
DOW 25 March 1942
No photograph in collection – from family

Story delivered 3 July 2015

Today we remember and pay tribute to Corporal Alan John Newman, who was killed on active service during the Second World War.

Born in the Melbourne suburb of Hawthorn on 14 April 1907, Alan Newman worked as a builder before his enlistment in the Second Australian Imperial Force in October 1941.

The husband of Phyllis Newman and father of Alan and Roly, Newman was posted following his enlistment to the reserves of the 2/29th Battalion. At that point in time, the 2/29th, as part of the 8th Australian Division, was stationed in Malaya.

Following Japan’s entry in the war on 7 December 1941, the Allied forces on the Malay Peninsula were pushed back against a rapid advance. In January 1941 Newman embarked in Sydney for overseas service, joining his battalion in Malaya later that month. At some point during the fighting on the peninsula or during the battle for Singapore, Newman was seriously wounded.

On 15 February 1942, after weeks of fierce fighting, Singapore fell to the Japanese, and Newman became one of 45,000 Australian and British troops captured in the surrender.

Some 15,000 Australians, including Newman, were imprisoned in the large prisoner of war camp at Changi in Singapore. Weeks after capture, on 25 March 1942, Newman died from wounds sustained during the campaign.

His body is buried in the British and Commonwealth War Cemetery at Kranji, in Singapore.

His name is listed here on the Roll of Honour on my left, along with the names of some 40,000 other Australians who died in the Second World War. His photograph is displayed today beside the Pool of Reflection, where he is pictured with his wife Phyllis and son Alan.

This is but one of the many stories of service and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Corporal Alan John Newman, and all of those Australians who gave their lives during the Second World War.

Dr Lachlan Grant
Historian, Military History Section