The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (N165110) Private Claude Anthony Skimmings, 55/53rd 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 (N165110) Private Claude Anthony Skimmings, 55/53rd Australian Infantry Battalion, Second World War.

N165110 Private Claude Anthony Skimmings, 55/53rd Australian Infantry Battalion
KIA 7 December 1942

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private Claude Anthony Skimmings.

Claude Skimmings was born in 1919, the eldest child in the large family of Charles Andrew and Mary Eva Skimmings.
He was born in Lismore, where he spent his early childhood years before spending some time at Branxton and Hunter River. He eventually moved to Burringbar, where he was employed as a labourer for seven years by Mr O’Keefe, who was well known in the area as the local bandmaster.

On 24 April 1941 Claude was mobilised for service, initially as part of the 41st Battalion. He was soon transferred to the 53rd Battalion and taken on strength at Ingleburn.
While at Ingleburn, he began regularly writing letters to his family at home. These consistently emphasised Skimmings’ forbearance and good humour: “Keep your chin up and keep smiling as I feel as happy as Larry … they have christened me Happy here now … so you may see I am not down-hearted over anything.”

At the start of November the 53rd Battalion was reinforced with men from a number of other Militia units and in December, just before the battalion was to sail on the transport Aquitania, it received over a hundred 18-year-olds who had just been called up for duty. Some of these young conscripts were given a leave pass for one night, embarking the next day. Others were selected the day the Aquitania sailed and did not get a chance to say goodbye to friends and family.

More surprises were to follow. While at sea the men learnt they were not going to Darwin, as they had earlier been told, but to Port Moresby. The Aquitania arrived on 3 January 1942 and the 53rd, as part of the defence of Port Moresby, was assigned to the area of Boera, Napa Napa, and the Napa Napa Peninsula. While this was the worst area for malaria, and the battalion suffered badly from the disease over following months, Skimmings appears to have avoided the worst. Apart from contracting dysentery soon after his arrival, there is no record of his being hospitalised with malaria.

While in Moresby the battalion members received minimal training, with the 53rd mostly used for work parties. The battalion did not receive any major training until July, when B and C Companies were sent to the Kokoda area.

Poorly trained and ill-prepared, the 53rd went into battle against experienced Japanese troops and did not fare well. The Japanese infiltrated the Australian lines and bypassed some of their positions altogether. In one ambush, the battalion commander and several other members of his headquarters staff were killed.

After this, the 53rd Battalion was merged with the 55th Battalion to form the 55/53rd Battalion. The two had been previously merged, but had been temporarily separated before Skimmings’ mobilisation.

By then Skimmings had been nicknamed “Skimmo” by the mates who shared a tent with him. His letters home acknowledged the constant stress and danger posed by inhospitable conditions, mosquitoes, poor diet, monotonous days and nights, and the threat posed by the enemy. But they inevitably ended with the stoic assertion that “things could be worse” and injunctions to “keep your chin up”.
In his last letter home, dated 3 December 1942, he wrote, “I thought I would drop you a line and let you know that I am still in the land of the living and feeling happy about everything.”

In early December 1942, the 55th/53rd was sent to the Sanananda Track to join the fighting in the drive to the Japanese beachheads at Buna and Gona.

On 7 December the battalion dispatched a single company to launch a diversionary attack, while the rest of the battalion supported the 49th Battalion's attack at Sanananda. Coming up against strong defensive positions, the Australians were beaten back and the 55th/53rd suffered 130 casualties. Among the dead was Private Claude Skimmings.

He was 23 years old, survived by his parents, six sisters and one brother.

Today his remains lie in the Soputa War Cemetery beneath the inscription chosen by his grieving family: “May he rest in peace”.

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 Claude Anthony Skimmings, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Duncan Beard
Editor, Military History Section