The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (VX39003) Major John Ferguson Chambers, 4th Australian General Hospital AAMC, 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 Tristan Rallings, the story for this day was on (VX39003) Major John Ferguson Chambers, 4th Australian General Hospital AAMC, Second World War.

VX39003 Major John Ferguson Chambers, 4th Australian General Hospital AAMC
KIA 10 April 1941

Today we remember and pay tribute to Major John Ferguson Chambers.

John Chambers was born on 9 September 1894 to Alfred and Mary Ann Chambers of Brisbane. John was educated at Tudor House Preparatory School in the Sydney suburb of Moss Vale, and later Sydney Grammar School, before going to Melbourne University to study medicine. He graduated in 1917 with a bachelor of medicine degree.

John Chambers enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in April 1918. Given the rank of captain in the Australian Army Medical Corps, he served as Resident Medical Officer in Perth Public Hospital. He left Sydney for active service overseas two days before the armistice was signed in November 1918, and arrived in Egypt on 11 December.

Although the war was over, it would be more than a year before the last of the Australian Imperial Force returned home. Chambers remained overseas, dealing with wounded patients in hospital, as well as new cases of sickness and injury. However, most of his time in Egypt was spent being unwell himself.

In September 1919 Chambers went to England, where he visited several hospitals in the United Kingdom to gain further experience through the Inter-Allied Fellowship of Medicine Post Graduate Scheme. He became a member of the Royal Colleges of Practitioners, and on returning to Australia earned his MD in Melbourne in 1925.

On 3 September 1924, John Chambers married Helen Craig at St Stephen’s Church in Sydney. They would go on to have two sons. Dr Chambers took on a practice in Toorak Road, Melbourne, and contributed a number of authoritative papers to scientific journals.

John Chambers enlisted for active service for a second time in November 1940 and was again accepted for active service in the Australian Army Medical Corps. He left Australia in late December 1940 and in early February arrived in the Middle East.

Chambers was sent to Tobruk, a vital deep-water port in Libya that had been recently liberated from Italian control. However, its strategic importance was such that the Germans advanced to take control of the occupied town in April, not long after Chambers’ arrival. Tobruk and its garrison of around 14,000 men would be besieged for eight months.

Major John Chambers did not live through the siege. On 10 April 1941 enemy aircraft dive-bombed clearly marked hospital tents in Tobruk. Thirty-five medical staff and patients were killed or wounded in the attack – including two doctors, Major John Chambers and Major Zelman Schwartz.

John Chambers was buried in the Tobruk War Cemetery, where his remains lie today. His epitaph, taken from the Rubaiyat of Omar Kayyam, reads, “The quarrel of the universe let be … make game of that which makes as much of thee.” He was 46 years old.

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 Major John Ferguson Chambers, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Meleah Hampton
Historian, Military History Section