The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (SX30915) Private Thomas Percy Laintoll, 113th Convalescent Depot, 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 Craig Berelle, the story for this day was on (SX30915) Private Thomas Percy Laintoll, 113th Convalescent Depot, Second Australian Imperial Force, Second World War.

SX30915 Private Thomas Percy Laintoll, 113th Convalescent Depot, Second Australian Imperial Force
DOD 10 August 1943
No photograph in collection

Story delivered 3 January 2017

Today we pay tribute to Private Thomas Percy Laintoll, who died on active service during the Second World War.

Thomas Laintoll was born on 22 January 1912 to James and Catherine Laintoll in Kapunda in South Australia’s Barossa Valley region. His mother died of double pneumonia at the age of 42 when Thomas was only five years old, leaving behind seven children. In 1923 the family was again struck with tragedy when Thomas’s older brother Joseph drowned in a nearby creek. Four other boys were with him, but none could swim, and the drowning boy failed to see a stick that they held out to him.

Laintoll worked in the timber industry as a timber stacker, and was mobilised into the Militia on 3 March 1941. Following his call up he enlisted at Kensington in Adelaide and commenced his service at the Woodside camp in South Australia in October 1941. There he was posted to the 13th Field Regiment and commenced training.

In June 1942 Laintoll was posted to Headquarters New Guinea Force, and in July was hospitalised with dengue fever. He returned to his unit in January 1943 and was transferred from the Militia to the Second Australian Imperial Force after voluntary enlistment in the AIF. He continued to serve in the Headquarters unit in Port Moresby.

In February 1943 Laintoll was again hospitalised with dengue fever, returning to his unit about a week later. In May he was again struck down with illness, this time contracting amoebiasis, an infection that often causes dysentery. He was treated at the 2/2nd Casualty Clearing Station for two months before being evacuated from Port Moresby. After arriving in Townsville in late July he was transferred to the 105th Australian General Hospital in Adelaide, where he died of his illness on 10 August 1943, only a few days after his arrival.

He was 31 years old.

Laintoll was given a military funeral and buried in the special war cemetery plot of the Centennial Park Cemetery in Adelaide. Among the many notices placed by family and friends in the Advertiser was the following: “he suffered and died that we might live in peace”.

His name is listed here 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 Private Thomas Percy Laintoll, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Dr Lachlan Grant
Military History Section