The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (Q30) Lieutenant Arthur Auchter Smith, 1st Papuan Infantry Battalion, 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 Charis May, the story for this day was on (Q30) Lieutenant Arthur Auchter Smith, 1st Papuan Infantry Battalion, Second World War.

Q30 Lieutenant Arthur Auchter Smith, 1st Papuan Infantry Battalion
Execution 28 August 1942

Story delivered 28 August 2017

Today we remember and pay tribute to Lieutenant Arthur Auchter Smith.

Arthur Auchter Smith was born on 23 December 1920, the youngest child of Alfred and Ruby Smith. Arthur’s parents had previously lived in Gympie, Queensland, where Alfred worked as a miner, but by the time of Arthur’s birth the family was living near Bowen Hills in Brisbane. Arthur’s father passed away in 1922, when Arthur was only one year old.

Arthur worked several jobs throughout his life, at various times listing his occupation as truck driver, clerk, and storeman. In 1938, at the age of 17, he joined the militia, gaining some military training and experience. After the outbreak of the Second World War, he joined the Second Australian Imperial Force, taking his oath at Enoggera in Brisbane on 27 June 1940. All three of Arthur’s brothers served in the Second World War: Thomas in the navy, Clifford in the air force, and Wallace in the army.

On 1 July 1940, just days after formally enlisting, Arthur sailed from Brisbane to Port Moresby. He served for nine months with the 49th Infantry Battalion in Port Moresby. In late March 1941 he was promoted to lieutenant and transferred to the 1st Papuan Infantry Battalion.

On 21 July 1942 Japanese forces landed in Papuan territory around Buna. It was from this initial landing point that the Japanese forces would attempt to cross the Owen Stanley Range, south-west through Kokoda, and seize Port Moresby.

On the day of the landing, Arthur was stationed near the village of Ambasi, on the Opi River, with four Australian and 26 Papuan troops of the 1st Papuan Infantry Battalion. This small force was pitted against about 100 Japanese attackers who landed near Ambasi.

Arthur and a small band of survivors managed to retreat inland, and over the following days Arthur found himself leading a small party of soldiers and civilians seeking refuge from the Japanese advance. As well as the four soldiers Arthur originally set out with, the party eventually contained five American airmen, two of whom were badly injured, and three Australian missionaries, Father James Benson, Mavis Parkinson and May Hayman.

Arthur planned to lead the party south-east across the lower Owen Stanleys to Rigo, and then on to Port Moresby. They got as far as the vicinity of Dobodura, 60 kilometres east of Kokoda, when they were ambushed by a Japanese patrol. Four of the Australian soldiers died in the ambush, the rest of the party split up. The five American soldiers attempted to continue their journey to Port Moresby but died along the way. Father Benson was captured by the Japanese and spent the rest of the war as a prisoner. May Hayman, aged 33, and Mavis Parkinson, 21, were eventually captured by the Japanese and executed in a coffee plantation near Popondetta.

In the immediate aftermath of the ambush, Arthur was searching for the missing women of the party when he too was captured. He was executed on 28 August 1942. He was 21 years old.

Arthur’s name is listed on the Port Moresby Memorial, which commemorates over 700 servicemen of the Second World War who have no known grave.

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 Lieutenant Arthur Auchter Smith, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

David Sutton
Historian, Military History Section