The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (H1538) Able Seaman Harold Leo Boucher, HMAS Yarra, Royal Australian Navy, 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 Richard Cruise, the story for this day was on (H1538) Able Seaman Harold Leo Boucher, HMAS Yarra, Royal Australian Navy, Second World War.

H1538 Able Seaman Harold Leo Boucher, HMAS Yarra, Royal Australian Navy
KIA 4 March 1942
No photograph in collection

Story delivered 3 September 2015

Today we pay tribute to Able Seaman Harold Leo Boucher, who was killed on active service with the Royal Australian Navy in 1942.

Harold Boucher was born on 27 September 1921 in Hobart, the youngest son of Frederick and Charlotte Boucher’s nine children. He attended the Albuera Street School, and went on to become a shop assistant.

Boucher was the grandson of Captain F.A. Boucher, a highly respected mariner in Hobart who worked at sea for many years before returning to Tasmania to work on steamships in the Huon trade.

In February 1941, aged 19, Boucher followed in his grandfather’s sea-faring footsteps and enlisted in the Royal Australian Navy. He trained at HMAS Cerberus, and in January 1942 was posted to the crew of the sloop HMAS Yarra.

Since the outbreak of the Second World War Yarra had served in Australian waters, the Red Sea, the Indian Ocean, the Persian Gulf, and, most notably, in the Mediterranean escorting convoys bringing supplies to the besieged garrison at Tobruk.

Back in Australia in early 1942, Yarra was sent to Java for escort duties between Batavia and Singapore, and in February Boucher was part of the crew when it rescued 1,800 survivors from the sunken troopship Empress of Asia while under enemy attack.

On 4 March Yarra was escorting a small convoy of three ships from Java to Fremantle when the convoy was intercepted by five Japanese warships. Despite being outgunned and outranged, Yarra placed itself between its convoy and the enemy and prepared to attack.

A prisoner of the Japanese watched as the Yarra was engaged. By the time he got on deck to witness the battle the Yarra was the only ship left afloat:

we could see flames and a great deal of smoke. The two destroyers were circling Yarra, which appeared stationary, and were re-pouring fire into her. She was still firing back, as we could see odd gun flashes … the last we saw of Yarra was a high column of smoke, but we were vividly impressed by her fight …

A total of 138 of Yarra’s 151 crew were killed in the action or later died on life rafts. Able Seaman Harold Boucher was one of those killed. His body was never recovered, and his manner of death is unknown. He was 21 years old.

The names of the Yarra crew are commemorated on the Plymouth Naval Memorial in Britain, dedicated to the thousands of British and Commonwealth sailors who lost their lives at sea and who have no known grave.

Harold Boucher’s name and those of the crew of HMAS Yarra who lost their lives are listed on the Roll of Honour to my left, among the roughly 40,000 other Australians who died serving in 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 Harold Leo Boucher, and all of those Australians who gave their lives for their nation.

Dr Lachlan Grant
Historian, Military History Section