The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of Captain Frank Edmond Getting, HMAS Canberra, Royal Australian Navy, 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 Troy Clayton, the story for this day was on Captain Frank Edmond Getting, HMAS Canberra, Royal Australian Navy, Second World War.

Captain Frank Edmond Getting, HMAS Canberra, Royal Australian Navy
KIA 9 August 1942

Today we remember and pay tribute to Captain Frank Edmond Getting.

Frank Getting was born on 30 July 1899, the youngest of three children born to Paul and Janet Getting of the Sydney suburb of Manly.

Getting joined the Royal Australian Navy on 31 December 1912, at the age of 13. He was selected to form part of the first intake of midshipmen at the Royal Australian College, then located in Geelong in Victoria. It was the beginning of long and distinguished service that would span two world wars.

Graduating in 1916, the following year Getting was sent to serve in the United Kingdom as part of the Royal Navy’s Grand Fleet. In April 1917 Getting was appointed to the light battle cruiser HMS Glorious. He remained with this ship until September 1918, just before the end of the First World War, when he was promoted to acting sub-lieutenant and transferred to the HMS Benbow, an Iron Duke-class dreadnaught.

After the First World War, Getting joined his first Australian ship, the HMAS Platypus, and in 1919 assisted in escorting six J-class submarines to Australia. After a brief period at home he returned to England in 1919 to continue his training. Getting excelled in his studies at the Royal Navy and came top of the class in his torpedo course. He was promoted to lieutenant before returning to Australia in 1921 to serve in the 2nd Submarine Flotilla. He remained with this unit until 1922.

In 1926 Getting became the first Australian submarine officer to qualify at the Royal Navy’s Submarine Commanders’ Officers’ Course, and was soon rewarded with his first command, a British submarine. Soon afterwards, he was appointed First Lieutenant of the Australian submarine HMAS Oxley (I). He remained with this vessel for two years, and in 1928 became the submarine’s Commanding Officer.

From this period until the beginning of the Second World War, Getting continued to serve with distinction on several appointments in the United Kingdom and Australia, and continued to rise through the ranks. In a recommendation for promotion in 1937, one of his superior officers wrote that he was
A very reliable, loyal and capable officer. Extremely hardworking and painstaking … He has a wide outlook, is well read and possesses considerable initiative. Excellent powers of command and a leader of men. Cheerful personality, good social qualities, imposing physique and a good “mixer”, he is liked wherever he goes.

This is one of many extremely positive recommendations that can be found in Getting’s service record.

He completed the Imperial Defence College Staff course in December 1934 and from 1935 to 1939 served as the Operations and Intelligence Staff Officer to Flag Officer Commanding Australia station in the heavy cruisers HMAS Canberra and HMAS Australia.

In June 1938 he married Hazel Stewart in Sydney.
In 1939 at the outbreak of the Second World War in Europe, Getting was serving as staff officer on Canberra. In October of that year, he was appointed in command of the armed merchant cruiser HMAS Kanimbla, and spent 1940 patrolling the Chinese and Japanese coasts for German merchant ships, and performing patrol and escort duties around Malaya and the Indian Ocean.

His rank of captain was confirmed on 31 December 1940, and he soon began a new role as Deputy Chief of Navy. He served in this role during Japan’s entry into the war, and remained until June 1942, when he was given command of the cruiser HMAS Canberra.

Canberra soon formed part of the Task Group 44, a naval force comprised of Australian and American ships assigned to support the American landings at Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands. Taking and holding Guadalcanal was essential to maintain Allied communication lines between Australia and America.

As part of this operation, Canberra formed part of the southern patrol group near Savo Island. On the early hours of 9 August, a powerful Japanese force launched a surprise attack on the Allied ships. Canberra, which lost power at the beginning of the attack, came under heavy Japanese attack, and was hit by 24 large calibre shells in less than two minutes.

Nearly 200 Australians were killed or wounded in the attack, and Captain Getting received severe wounds that required immediate treatment. Despite this, when he was found by the ship’s surgeon commander Getting refused medical attention and instead ordered the surgeon to attend to the needs of others.

Still suffering from his wounds, Getting remained at his post and continued to direct operations until reluctantly evacuated for medical treatment aboard the USS Patterson. Getting died of his wounds shortly afterwards, and was buried at sea.

He was 43 years old.

After the war, Getting’s grieving wife Hazel said of her husband, “I am proud of Frank. He loved the sea and he was willing if needs be, to give his all for his country. He would not have wished to go in any other way.”

His name is listed on the Plymouth Naval Memorial in the United Kingdom, which lists the names of nearly 16,000 sailors of the Second World War who have no known grave.

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 Captain Frank Edmond Getting, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

David Sutton
Historian, Military History Section