The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (QX26044) Private Ian Scott McDowall, 1 Base Sub Area Details 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 (QX26044) Private Ian Scott McDowall, 1 Base Sub Area Details Depot, Second Australian Imperial Force, Second World War.

QX26044 Private Ian Scott McDowall, 1 Base Sub Area Details Depot, Second Australian Imperial Force
Died in plane crash 18 September 1945
Photograph: P03557.001

Story delivered 18 September 2017

Today we pay tribute to Private Ian McDowall.

Born in Brisbane on 6 June 1922, Ian Scott McDowall was the son of Andrew and Marjorie McDowall.

Growing up in the Brisbane suburb of Hawthorne, after leaving school, the young Ian McDowall gained employment as a commercial artist.

At the outbreak of the Second World War, McDowall was determined to do his duty and enlist in the services, but he was just 17 years old – too young to enlist.

He came from a family with a strong history of service. His father had served in the First World War, where he had been wounded twice, gassed, and awarded the Military Medal for bravery.

Biding his time, McDowall decided to leave Brisbane and travel around Queensland, picking up casual work as he went. At Gayndah, inland from Maryborough, he picked oranges before making his way north to the Atherton Tablelands.

On his return to Brisbane, the 19-year-old McDowall was eligible to enlist. This he did on 22 December 1941 when he enlisted in the Second Australian Imperial Force.

Following his initial training, McDowall was posted first to the 8th Pioneer Company, then to the 2/18th Infantry Training Battalion. He quickly rose through the ranks, gaining promotion to sergeant. But after declining the opportunity to become an officer, he voluntarily reverted to the rank of private.

In March 1943, McDowall embarked in Townsville for overseas service in Papua. Following his arrival in Port Moresby he was posted to the newly raised 1st Australian Parachute Refolding Platoon of the Australian Army Ordnance Corps. This new unit was raised in order to supply ground forces in remote locations in Papua and New Guinea by parachute drop. Parachute resupply became an integral component of Australian advances across Papua and New Guinea.

McDowall’s platoon formed close ties with the US Army’s 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment, and McDowall became good friends with American paratrooper Private First Class Ezra Lapidoos, who would later lose his life during fighting in the Philippines.

In between his work as a parachute rigger, McDowall spent his spare time painting and sketching.

In July 1944, he left Port Moresby, returning to Australia. In June the following year, his unit embarked again for overseas service, this time being sent to the island of Morotai.
Not long after the day the war ended, McDowall’s family received a letter from Ian saying that he was soon to be coming home. He had suffered an ankle injury on 9 August, had been assessed as unfit for service outside of Australia, and was soon to be repatriated on a medical evacuation flight.

On 18 September 1945, the C47 Dakota medical evacuation flight carrying McDowall left Morotai. It refuelled on Biak Island, before disappearing somewhere over West Papua.
All 29 people on board the flight, including McDowall and a Royal Australian Air Force nurse, were reported missing, believed killed.

The site of the crash was not found until 1968. One of the items recovered from the crash site was McDowall’s dog tag with his name and service number.

McDowall was the only member of his unit to die during wartime service. In keeping the link to the Royal Australian Army Ordnance
Corps Parachute Riggers of today, the Parachute Rigger training facility at the Army School of Ordnance at Bandiana, opened in 2010, is named in his honour.

Ian Scott McDowall’s name is 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 Private Ian Scott McDowall, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Lachlan Grant
Historian, Military History Section