The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (205622) Warrant Officer John William Kinder, No. 1 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force, 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 David Sutton, the story for this day was on (205622) Warrant Officer John William Kinder, No. 1 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force, Second World War.

205622 Warrant Officer John William Kinder, No. 1 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force
DOD 10 June 1945
Photograph: P06190.001

Story delivered 8 December 2016

Today we remember and pay tribute to Warrant Officer John William Kinder, who died during the Second World War.

John Kinder was born on 26 November 1916 to James William and Katherine Kinder of Ascot Vale, Victoria.

He enlisted in the Citizen Air Force on 3 September 1935, two months shy of his 19th birthday. While working as a salesman he spent four years doing nightly and weekend parades. In 1939 he was mobilised as sergeant before going on to further training at Laverton, where he was noted to be an excellent instructor. From here he was posted to a training school in Queensland, where he lectured cadets on administration and anti-gas procedures.

In 1940 Kinder was sent with No. 1 Squadron to Sembawang in Singapore as an instructor, and later that year he was promoted to warrant officer.

In late 1941 Kinder was based at Kota Bharu when the Japanese launched an attack on the Allied bases there just after midnight on 8 December, marking the first shots fired in the Pacific war. No. 1 Squadron launched a counter-attack, during which two Hudson aircraft were lost and three were damaged. Warrant Officer Kinder was said to have “done a wonderful job in rearguard action”, during which he was slightly wounded.

In early January 1942 the squadron was withdrawn to Singapore Island, but just a few days later Kinder was admitted to the Alexandra Military Hospital with malaria. While there he became seriously ill with several other maladies, including an abscess of the liver. On being released at the end of the month, and amid mounting pressure from Japanese troops, Kinder, instead of being evacuated, was apparently deemed able to walk, whereupon he was “given a rifle and put with the AIF”.

On 15 February the Australians surrendered to the Japanese, and Kinder was among the thousands who became prisoners of war. He was initially held at Changi prisoner-of-war camp, but the Japanese soon called for working parties to build and expand new infrastructure across their empire. In July Kinder volunteered with “B Force”, assured of better food and conditions, but found himself on a hellish sea journey to Borneo, crammed into cargo holds for 11 days before arriving at Sandakan.

Conditions at Sandakan soon devolved into some of the worst experienced by prisoners of the Japanese. Prisoners, including the sick, were forced at gunpoint to work on the construction of a military airstrip, and were often beaten by their captors. Illness and death ravaged the camp, and food was scarce. By January 1945 the prisoners were fending for themselves.

The completed airfield was soon destroyed by Allied aircraft bombing, and between January and March 1945 some 450 of the fittest prisoners – including Kinder – were ordered to march west to Ranau, around 260 kilometres away. All were suffering from malnutrition and some from disease.

The march was horrendous. The Japanese guards refused to let the prisoners rest, and those too sick or weak to continue were left behind to die. Many died from disease or starvation, or at the hands of the guards, who regularly clubbed or shot to death those unable to walk.

Kinder led one of the groups on the march, and was said to show “an extraordinary duty of care for his men”. Lance Bombardier William Moxham later wrote that Kinder “did a good job right through”, and received several beatings from the Japanese for protesting against the ill-treatment of his men.

Though said to be in good health on arrival at Ranau, Kinder soon became sick, suffering from bouts of dysentery, and later contracted malaria. Moxham stayed by his side until he died on 10 June 1945, and buried his mate beneath a small white cross. He was 28.

Of the more than 2,500 men forced to march from Sandakan, only six survived to see the war’s end.

John Kinder was later reinterred at Labuan War Cemetery. His name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my left, along with some 40,000 others from the Second World War. His photograph is displayed today beside the Pool of Reflection.

This is but one of the many stories of service and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Warrant Officer John William Kinder, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Christina Zissis
Editor, Military History Section