The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (H1824) Able Seaman Edward Stanfield Piesse, HMAS Armidale, 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 Gerard Pratt, the story for this day was on (H1824) Able Seaman Edward Stanfield Piesse, HMAS Armidale, Royal Australian Navy, Second World War.

H1824 Able Seaman Edward Stanfield Piesse, HMAS Armidale, Royal Australian Navy
DOD 8 December 1942

Story delivered 1 December 2017

Today we remember and pay tribute to Able Seaman Edward Stanfield Piesse.

Known to friends and family as “Ted”, Edward Stanfield was born in Hobart on 13 August 1923 to the large family of Clyde and Emily Piesse.

Growing up in Bridgewater, on the northern bank of the Derwent River, 20 kilometres from Hobart, the Piesse children often ran behind the family horse and cart on the way to and from school. No doubt this contributed to young Ted’s athletic abilities, and he went on to win races and other sporting events during his early years.

Edward’s father, Clyde, was president of the Bridgewater State School Parents’ and Friends’ Association. He had served in the 10th Field Artillery Brigade during the later stages of the First World War.

Perhaps motivated by his father’s service, Edward Piesse reported for duty with the Royal Australian Navy on 21 November 1941.


He was first sent to HMAS Cerberus, the naval training base on the Mornington Peninsula south of Melbourne. A year later he was promoted to acting Able Seaman and posted to HMAS Armidale.

Initially tasked with escort duties in the waters of northern Australia and Papua, Armidale had arrived in Darwin before sailing with HMAS Castlemaine to Timor in order to reinforce the small Australian force fighting on the island, and to evacuate exhausted troops and some Portuguese civilians.

The two corvettes were attacks before reaching Betano and had missed their rendezvous with the auxiliary patrol boat Kuru, which they found off Timor, before transferring refugees from Kuru to Castlemaine, which returned to Darwin.

On 1 December 1942, Kuru and Armidale came under attack from Japanese dive-bombers and Zero fighters. Just after 3 pm, Armidale was hit by two torpedoes in quick succession. As she sank, the Japanese Zeroes made strafing runs on those in the water.

The survivors constructed a makeshift raft, and put the wounded aboard a small motor boat. When it became clear they would not be rescued, the captain and 21 other men made for Australian waters in the motor boat, rowing much of the way because the engine was damaged. Two days later, another 29 men began the precarious journey, leaving the remaining survivors clinging to the raft. Those that left were eventually picked up after a harrowing period at sea, but the men remaining on the raft – including Edward Piesse – disappeared without trace.

The loss of life on the Armidale was the highest for any corvette in the Second World War. Only 49 of the 149 men on board survived the ordeal and were rescued.
Edward Piesse is commemorated on the Plymouth Naval Memorial in Britain.

His name is also listed here, on the Roll of Honour on my left, among almost 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 Edward Stanfield Piesse, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Duncan Beard
Editor, Military History Section