The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (QX21908) Private Clark Davis Ivins, 2/12th Australian Infantry Battalion, Second 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 Gerard Pratt, the story for this day was on (QX21908) Private Clark Davis Ivins, 2/12th Australian Infantry Battalion, Second AIF, Second World War.

QX21908 Private Clark Davis Ivins, 2/12th Australian Infantry Battalion, Second AIF
DOW 5 April 1943

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private Clark Davis Ivins.

Clark Ivins was born on 1 April 1919, the fourth of eight children of Joseph and May Ivins of Yandina, Queensland.

He attended Yandina State School, was keen on cricket, and played for a number of seasons with the Yandina-Maroochy Club. Following his education, as a teenager he went to work with his father, who was a carpenter. Joseph built the houses and Clark painted them.

In January 1939, Clark Ivins joined the Militia, parading with the 9/49th Battalion, known as the “Stanley Regiment”.

A little over two years later, in July 1941, Ivins enlisted in the Second Australian Imperial Force in Brisbane, joining the 2/12th Battalion. During initial training, he developed the mumps, and it wasn’t until early November, after he’d spent time in hospital recuperating, that he left Australia to join his unit in the Middle East. After its involvement in the defense of Tobruk, the 2/12th Battalion had trained in Palestine before joining forces garrisoning Syria. In early January it travelled to Palestine, sailing for Australia in February.

The 2/12th’s next battleground was the Milne Bay on the south-eastern tip of Papua, where it arrived in August 1942. Milne Bay contained an Allied base, the key component of which was three airstrips, and was a key stepping stone for the Japanese in their drive towards Port Moresby.

Late on the night of 25 August, a force of 2,000 Japanese marines was landed to capture Milne Bay. They initially with success and advanced steadily westward. But by the end of the month, the commander of Milne Force, Australian Major General Cyril Clowes, seized the opportunity to counterattack and ordered the 2/12th Battalion to pursue the retreating Japanese. Despite facing a skilled and determined rear guard action, the battalion steadily advanced along the north shore of Milne Bay. Finally, between 4 and 7 September the Japanese were evacuated at night from around their original landing areas. Today Milne Bay is remembered as the first defeat of the Japanese on land during the Pacific War.

This perhaps provided some comfort to Private Clark Ivins, who was wounded in the spine by an explosive bullet from a Japanese sniper on 1 September. He was evacuated to a hospital ship and sent to Brisbane. An army nursing sister who nursed him later recalled that when he arrived his boots has been placed under his bed. When a cleaner went to remove them, Ivins asked if they could remain, as he would need them to walk out of the hospital. His boots stayed under the bed until he died. As the local newspaper later reported:
Doctors and nurses attached to the Army hospital fought to save his life, having admiration for the remarkable fortitude of this young man. His condition gradually became weaker until finally he passed away on the 5th of April.

Ivins was buried at Lutwyche Cemetery in Brisbane. He was 24 years old.

In 2015, Ivins’s family established the annual Clark Davis Ivins Memorial Prize for Security Studies, followed in 2017 by the launch of the Clark Davis Ivins Memorial Travel Grants Program as a memorial endowment at the Australian National University.

Private Clark Davis Ivins’ name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my left, among more than 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 Clark Davis Ivins, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Duncan Beard
Editor, Military History Section