The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (NX51360) Private Leonard Ernest Bow, 2/18th 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 Dennis Stockman, the story for this day was on (NX51360) Private Leonard Ernest Bow, 2/18th Battalion, Second World War.

NX51360 Private Leonard Ernest Bow, 2/18th Battalion
DOW 9 February 1942

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private Leonard Ernest Bow.

Leonard Bow was born in Melbourne on 30 November 1910, the youngest child of James and Adeline Ruth Bow. Leonard’s father served in the First World War, and at the time of his enlistment in 1915 the family were living in Surry Hills in Sydney.

Known as “Mick” to his family and friends, Leonard Bow joined the Second Australian Imperial Force at Paddington on 26 June 1940. At the time of his enlistment, he was living in Botany with his wife and three children, Raymond, Reginald, and Doreen. His older brother James also enlisted and served in the Second World War.

Bow joined the 2/18th Infantry Battalion, and spent six months training around Sydney and Bathurst. In February 1941 he sailed from Sydney Harbour aboard the Queen Mary bound for Singapore.

Bow and his battalion spent the rest of the year training in the steamy tropical conditions of the Malay Peninsula. They trained at various bases, and at the end of 1941 when Japanese forces began their rapid advance throughout south-east Asia, were stationed at Mersing on the east coast.

The tough tropical conditions took their toll on the Australian troops, and Mick spent time in hospital on two occasions in 1941, once with hematemesis, and on another occasion with dengue fever. He was serving with his battalion at Mersing when the Japanese declared war on the United States and Great Britain in early December.

Mick and the 2/18th Battalion did not come under immediate Japanese attack, but their proximity to Singapore meant that they were a likely target for Japanese aggression. On 17 January, the battalion withdrew from Mersing to Jemaluang further to the south. The withdrawal from well-fortified Mersing was forced upon the unit by the threats to their flanks posed by Japanese attacks on the west of the Malay Peninsula.

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

They were tasked with defending a sector of Singapore’s north-west coast when, on 8 February, the outnumbered and overstretched Australians came under an intense mortar and artillery barrage from Japanese forces. 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.

In the confusion of the attack and subsequent loss of Singapore, Private Leonard Ernest Bow was reported missing. He was later confirmed to have been died of wounds sustained in the battle on 9 February. He was 31 years old.

Today, his remains lie in the Kranji War Cemetery in Singapore, where nearly 4,500 Commonwealth casualties of the Second World War are commemorated. His grieving family left the simple epitaph on his grave: Sadly missed by all, his wife, children, and mother”.

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 Private Leonard Ernest Bow, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

David Sutton
Historian, Military History Section