The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (NX34251) Private Lloyd Sylvester Sibraa, 1st Independent Company, 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 (NX34251) Private Lloyd Sylvester Sibraa, 1st Independent Company, Second World War.

NX34251 Private Lloyd Sylvester Sibraa, 1st Independent Company
Died at sea (Montevideo Maru) 1 July 1942

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private Lloyd Sylvester Sibraa.
Lloyd Sibraa was born in the Sydney suburb of Forest Lodge on 9 June 1919, the son of Neville and Mabel Sibraa.

Neville and Mabel separated early in their marriage. Lloyd grew up to work as a station hand and drover around Fords Bridge on the Darling River, collecting a fierce abdominal scar as a reminder of a horse kick during his employment.

After a period of part-time service with the Australian Military Forces, he was discharged in order to join the Permanent Forces at the age of 21.

Initially allotted to an anti-aircraft regiment, Sibraa attended artillery school at Georges Heights.

Returning to camp, he was found absent without leave in January 1941, and was later discovered asleep on guard duty. He was confined to barracks as punishment for each incident.

In April 1941 he was classified as a driver mechanic, and the following month transferred to the 1st Independent Company – one of 12 independent or commando companies raised for service in the Second World War. In June Sibraa had pre-embarkation leave, and in July he left Australia, bound for New Guinea.

As the threat of war with Imperial Japan loomed, most of the 1st Independent Company was sent to protect Kavieng airfield. In the event of invasion, the Australians were under orders to resist long enough to destroy key airfields and other military installations, and then withdraw south to wage a guerrilla war. On 21 January 1942, a bombing raid by about 60 Japanese aircraft attacked Kavieng. While a number of aircraft were shot down, the company’s means of escape, the schooner Induna Star, was damaged. The crew managed to sail the vessel to Kaut and started to repair the damage – as the commandos withdrew across New Britain, having received word that a large Japanese naval force was approaching.

In the early morning of 22 January 1942, the Japanese landed at Kavieng airfield. Fighting broke out there as the small force that had remained behind blew up the supply dump and other facilities. Fighting their way out, the commandos withdrew towards the main force at Sook, although a number of men were captured in the process.

Around this time, contact with Private Sibraa was lost. He was declared missing, believed to be a prisoner of war.

On 24 November 1945, a memorial notice in the Herald read that Gunner Lloyd Sibraa was “presumed lost at sea”. He had been last reported on the Japanese prison ship Montevideo Maru, among the group of approximately 850 military prisoners and 200 civilian internees who had been ordered to board the ship on the morning of 22 June.

Eight days into the voyage to Hainan, the Montevideo Maru (which had no markings to indicate it was carrying prisoners) was spotted by the American submarine, the USS Sturgeon, which manoeuvred into position to fire its stern torpedoes. Survivors from the Montevideo Maru’s Japanese crew reported two torpedoes striking the vessel, followed by an explosion in the oil tank in the aft hold.

The vessel sank in as little as 11 minutes. Of those aboard, barely 20 Japanese crew survived; over 1,000 others died. According to a surviving Japanese crewman, Australians in the water sang “Auld Lang Syne” to their trapped mates as the ship sank beneath the waves.
The sinking is considered the worst maritime disaster in Australia's history.

Unaware of the ship’s loss, the families of those on the Montevideo Maru continued to send letters in the belief that their loved ones were being held as prisoners of war. It was not until after the war that they discovered the fate of those lost on the Montevideo Maru.

Sibraa’s mother clung to the hope that he had somehow made it and kept the army informed of her address, lest Lloyd should have survived.
On 1 July 1947 Sibraa’s mother placed a notice in the Sydney Morning Herald which read:
At night when shadows are falling
And I am all alone
There comes that longing Lloydie
If you could just come home.

Lloyd Sibraa was 23 years old.

Today, he is commemorated at the Rabaul Memorial, and the Rabaul and Montevideo Maru memorial here at the Australian War Memorial.
His name is also 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 Lloyd Sylvester Sibraa, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Duncan Beard
Editor, Military History Section