The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (NX53594) Private Frank Joseph Donohoe, 2/18th Battalion, AIF, 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 Richard Cruise, the story for this day was on (NX53594) Private Frank Joseph Donohoe, 2/18th Battalion, AIF, Second World War.

NX53594 Private Frank Joseph Donohoe, 2/18th Battalion, AIF
KIA 9 February 1942

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private Frank Joseph Donohoe.

Frank Joseph Donohoe was born on 24 April 1903 to John and Jane Donohoe in Sydney. Before the war, Donohoe worked as a meat carter, and lived in Annandale with his wife May, and two daughters, Dawn and Beryl.

Donohoe applied to join the Second Australian Imperial Force on 22 June 1940, and the following month began training with the 2/18th Infantry Battalion at Wallgrove Camp to the west of Sydney. In August his unit moved to Ingleburn, and in November to Bathurst. In February 1941 he and his unit sailed from Sydney for Singapore aboard the Queen Mary.

Donohoe and the 2/18th Battalion did not stay in Singapore, but instead headed north onto the Malay Peninsula, where they would continue to train and get used to the steamy tropical conditions. They trained at various bases across Malaya, and by September 1941, were stationed at Mersing, on the peninsula’s east coast. At Mersing, Donohoe and his unit prepared extensive defences due to the likelihood of a Japanese attack, and it was while they were at this base that Japan officially declared war.

Donohoe and the 2/18th Battalion did not come under immediate Japanese attack, but were close to Singapore, and expected to become a likely target. On 17 January, they withdrew from Mersing to Jemaluang further to the south.

Early in the morning on 27 January, the 2/18th Battalion conducted a successful ambush of advancing Japanese forces at Nithsdale Estate. The engagement, however, was not decisive, and the battalion withdrew further south to Singapore.

Donohoe and his unit were defending a sector of Singapore’s north-west coast when, on 8 February 1942, the outnumbered and overstretched Australians came under an intense Japanese mortar and artillery barrage. This barrage lasted for 16 hours; one company from the battalion reported an average of 55 shells falling per minute on their section they were defending. Australian casualties were relatively light on account of the men sheltering in well-dug slit trenches, but all they could do was lie and endure the shelling. The bombardment was followed by a major Japanese landing in which Australian forces were completely overrun.

Donohoe was not seen again after the chaos and confusion of this attack. He was originally listed as missing, and his death was not officially declared until after the end of the war in October 1945. He was 38 years old, survived by his wife May and two young daughters.

His name is listed on the Singapore memorial, which lists the names of over 24,000 Commonwealth soldiers of the Second World War who have no known grave.

His 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 Frank Joseph Donohoe, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

David Sutton
Historian, Military History Section