The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (WX14394) Private Leslie Arthur Parker, 2/32nd Australian 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 Joanne Smedley, the story for this day was on (WX14394) Private Leslie Arthur Parker, 2/32nd Australian Infantry Battalion, Second World War.

WX14394 Private Leslie Arthur Parker, 2/32nd Australian Infantry Battalion
DOD 13 August 1944
Story delivered 12 August 2018

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private Leslie Parker.

Known to friends and family as “Les”, Leslie Arthur Parker was born on 26 April 1916 in Cottesloe, Western Australia, to Arthur and Lucy Parker.

Leslie attended Cottesloe Primary School and Fremantle Boys High School. He was a keen sportsman, with an interest in cricket, golf, and cycling. Following his education, he went on to work as a miner in Bullfinch and Kalgoorlie.

On 18 June 1941, Leslie Parker enlisted in the 2nd Australian Imperial Force at Claremont. After his initial training, he spent a week of pre-embarkation leave with his wife, Margaret, and baby daughter, Jean, who was not yet eight months old.

On 7 November 1941, Parker left Fremantle with a US convoy, bound for the Middle East. More training followed there, until late May 1942, when Private Parker was taken on strength of the 2/32nd Battalion.

In July 1942 the war in North Africa had become critical: Germans and Italians had reached El Alamein in Egypt, about 110 kilometres from Alexandria. The 9th Division, of which the 2/32nd Battalion was part, was rushed to the area.

The battalion’s first attack began on 17 July. The 2/32nd captured its first objective, but the Germans resisted fiercely and counter-attacked with tanks. The battalion suffered heavily: nearly half its number were killed or wounded, and nearly 200 became prisoners of war.

Initially reported as missing, Parker’s status as a prisoner of war was confirmed a few months later, and in April 1943 he was reported as being in a prisoner of war camp.

In late 1943, Parker escaped from a work camp on a farm located on the Piedmont plain between Turin and Milan, and in 1944, he and his mate Ken Scott, along with two others from the 2/32nd, joined a small team of Australians working with Italian partisans in Northern Italy.

Private Ian Sproule, a member of the group, later recounted:

Les Parker, the only married man amongst us, and several years our senior, looked after us all. He was a top soldier (as I guess the whole bunch of us were), but Les gave the impression of reliability. He had a clear, direct gaze and a wide, firm mouth. He cared about people, a terrific mate. He was solidly built and solid in character.

On one occasion Parker distinguished himself during an attack on a German convoy, waiting until a vehicle was only a few feet away before throwing a bomb that blew it up.

Parker had been with the group for almost a year when, in August, he and four other Australians took part in a raid on the village of Lillianes with about 30 Italian communist partisans. During the fighting, Parker was wounded by a mortar bomb. Private Sproule was with him and managed to get him to safety.

Parker was taken on a makeshift stretcher to Torrazzo where he was hidden in a church tower and placed under the care of an Italian doctor. But his wounds proved too severe, and he died on the afternoon of 13 August 1944.

Parker was buried at midnight – so as not to attract attention – in the family vault of a local man. A group of escaped Australian and New Zealand prisoners attended the funeral. After the war, his remains were moved to Milan War Cemetery.

Leslie Parker was 28 years old.

Following his death, Parker was mentioned in despatches “in recognition of gallant and distinguished service in the field”.

His name is listed 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 Private Leslie Parker, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Duncan Beard
Editor, Military History Section