The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (NX14617) Sergeant Robert Nobel Rex Green, 2/17th Battalion, Second World War.

Places
Accession Number AWM2020.1.1.68
Collection type Film
Object type Last Post film
Physical description 16:9
Maker Australian War Memorial
Place made Australia: Australian Capital Territory, Canberra, Campbell
Date made 8 March 2020
Access Open
Conflict Second World War, 1939-1945
Copyright Item copyright: © Australian War Memorial
Creative Commons License This item is licensed under CC BY-NC
Copying Provisions Copyright restrictions apply. Only personal, non-commercial, research and study use permitted. Permission of copyright holder required for any commercial use and/or reproduction.
Description

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 Jennifer Surtees, the story for this day was on (NX14617) Sergeant Robert Nobel Rex Green, 2/17th Battalion, Second World War.

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Speech transcript

NX14617 Sergeant Robert Nobel Rex Green, 2/17th Battalion
KIA 27 October 1942

Today we remember and pay tribute to Sergeant Robert Nobel Rex Green.

Robert Green was born in the Sydney suburb of Newtown on 5 November 1908, the youngest son of Henry and Ethel Green. Known as “Rex” to his family and friends, Green grew up in Ingleburn in Sydney’s south-west with his six siblings, and attended a local school. Green’s early life was beset by a number of tragedies: around 1930 his family home burnt down, and in 1931, his mother passed away from cancer. Despite these difficulties, Green persevered with his education, and attained a Law Degree from the University of Sydney. He was admitted to the Bar as a barrister, and worked as a Crown Prosecutor for the New South Wales Police.

Green enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on 20 May 1940 at Paddington in Sydney, and joined the newly formed 2/17th Infantry Battalion. This battalion formed and conducted its initial training in Green’s home suburb of Ingleburn before moving for further training in Bathurst. Green clearly distinguished himself as a capable soldier, and was promoted twice throughout his training: to the rank of lance corporal in June 1940, then to acting sergeant in July.

On 19 October 1940, Green sailed from Sydney for service in the Middle East and North Africa. While en route, his unit, the 2/17th Battalion, joined the 9th Australian Division; they would stay with this unit for the rest of the war.

Soon after his arrival in the Middle East, Green had his rank of sergeant confirmed, and he spent the next three months training with his unit for desert warfare.

In March 1941, Green and the 2/17th Battalion moved to the eastern defences of Tripoli in Libya. But they were soon forced to withdraw to Tobruk, along with the rest of the British forces in the area, after a strong German and Italian attack. Green and the 2/17th then participated in the famous defence of Tobruk against concerted enemy attacks until they were withdrawn to Egypt.

Green spent the next nine months training in Egypt, Syria and Lebanon. During this period, on 4 April 1942, he requested to revert to the rank of corporal. It is unknown why he decided to request this demotion: some possible reasons are that he wished to stay with a group of friends in the service, or he wished to remain in the front line rather than take on more clerical duties.

In March he transferred to the No. 11 Infantry Base Depot School where he underwent specialist mortar training. He returned to his unit in June.

The following month, Green and the 2/17th Battalion moved with the rest of the Australian 9th Division to the front near El Alamein in Egypt. Over the next months, El Alamein would become the scene for some of the heaviest and most important fighting for Australians in the war. In July 1942, German and Italian Axis forces made a series of attacks in the area, in an attempt to take the city of Alexandria. It was vital for Allied forces to halt the attack so as to prevent Axis control of Egypt. Green and the 2/17th Battalion defended their sector of the front against enemy attacks and took part in a series of small-scale counter-attacks until September, when they were part of the much larger Battle of El Alamein. During this period, Green was promoted once again and returned to the rank of sergeant.

The Battle of El Alamein involved some 220,000 Allied and 180,000 Axis troops. It was an overwhelming success for the Allies and destroyed the Axis threat to Egypt.

Green and his unit formed part of the northern tip of the Allied forces in the battle. On the evening of 23 October they advanced on their objectives after a heavy artillery bombardment of the enemy positions. This barrage was so heavy that it reportedly could be heard nearly 100 kilometres away in Alexandria. Green and the 2/17th Battalion were able to reach their primary objectives, but were soon held up by enemy mine fields, barbed wire entanglements, and the chaos and confusion of a night battle.

For the next four days, Green and the soldiers of the 2/17th, along with thousands of other Allied troops, endured enemy shelling, counter-attacks and tank assaults. The field diary of Green’s 2/17th Battalion reports that 26 October was the first time in three days that any of the troops had a chance to get any sleep. In four days of battle, Green’s battalion alone suffered nearly 200 casualties.

Sergeant Green was killed in action at some point during the fighting on 27 October 1942. The exact time and cause of his death are unknown, but it is likely that he was killed either during an Italian tank attack before dawn – or during a heavy enemy artillery, tank and infantry attack against the battalion during the afternoon.

He was 33 years old.

He is buried in the El Alamein War Cemetery in Egypt, where over 7,200 Allied soldiers of the Second World War now lie.

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 Sergeant Robert Nobel Rex Green, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

David Sutton
Historian, Military History Section


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