Places | |
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Accession Number | AWM2017.1.1 |
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 | 1 January 2017 |
Access | Open |
Conflict |
Second World War, 1939-1945 |
Copyright |
Item copyright: © Australian War Memorial![]() |
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. |
The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (21491) Able Seaman Clarence Robert Avery, 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 Joanne Smedley, the story for this day was on (21491) Able Seaman Clarence Robert Avery, HMAS Australia (II), Second World War.
Film order form21491 Able Seaman Clarence Robert Avery, HMAS Australia (II)
KIA 6 January 1945
No photograph in collection.
Story delivered 1 January 2017
Today we remember Able Seaman Clarence Robert Avery.
Clarence Avery was born on 2 February 1919 in the Sydney suburb of Paddington. He was one of five children of Samuel and Florence Avery. In 1937 he was working at Vickers Mill when he enlisted in the Royal Australian Navy in May 1937, aged 18.
Avery was first posted as an ordinary seaman to HMAS Cerberus, the navy’s training establishment on Western Port Bay in Victoria, and then to the light cruiser HMAS Sydney (II), on duty in Australian waters. During 1939 Avery was posted to various shore establishments as well the light cruiser HMAS Adelaide. In May the Adelaide’s company travelled to Britain to take over the newly commissioned light cruiser HMAS Perth. That June Avery was rated as able seaman. It was around this time that he also learnt that his father had died.
When the Second World War broke out in September, Perth was visiting New York, so the cruiser spent late 1939 and early 1940 carrying out escort and patrol duties in the West Indies and Western Atlantic. After reaching Australia at the end of March, Perth took up duty in the Mediterranean, where it operated with a Royal Navy cruiser squadron. It participated in the battle of Cape Matapan in March 1941, and later helped evacuate British forces from mainland Greece and Crete. In June the cruiser conducted shore bombardment against Vichy French targets in support of the British campaign in Syria and Lebanon. During this time Perth was damaged on several occasions by enemy aircraft and air attacks.
On returning to Australia, Avery spent four months in Sydney posted to HMAS Kuttabul. That November his younger brother Able Seaman George Avery was killed when HMAS Sydney was lost with all hands in the action against the German raider Kormoran.
Avery eventually joined the company of the heavy cruiser HMAS Australia in late August 1942. Three months later he married Joyce Burnett. After months spent on patrolling duties, in November 1943 HMAS Australia began supporting American forces in a series of amphibious operations against Japanese territory in New Georgia, New Britain, and New Guinea. Following a refit, it participated in another series of American landings in western New Guinea, and provided fire support for the battle of Wakde Island and the invasion of Noemfoor islands in western New Guinea in July.
By mid-1944 the Allies were preparing to return to the Philippines. The Japanese fiercely opposed every phase of the offensive at sea, in the air, and on land. In the Leyte Gulf, HMAS Australia was hit by a Japanese suicide aircraft on 21 October 1944. Though 30 men were killed, the cruiser survived.
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. At about 5:45 pm on 6 January, a Japanese dive-bomber crashed into the starboard side and exploded. Fourteen men were killed, including Able Seaman Clarence Avery. He was 25 years old.
Clarence Avery is commemorated on the Plymouth Naval Memorial in Britain. His name is also listed on the Roll of Honour on my left, among some 40,000 Australians who died while 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 Clarence Robert Avery who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.
Dr Karl James
Historian, Military History Section
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Video of The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (21491) Able Seaman Clarence Robert Avery, HMAS Australia (II), Second World War. (video)