The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (QX13309) Private Andrew Edward McDonald, 3 Reserve Motor Transport Company, AASC, 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 Meleah Hampton, the story for this day was on (QX13309) Private Andrew Edward McDonald, 3 Reserve Motor Transport Company, AASC, Second World War.

QX13309 Private Andrew Edward McDonald, 3 Reserve Motor Transport Company, AASC
Illness 7 October 1943

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private Andrew Edward McDonald.

Andrew McDonald was born in Bombala, New South Wales, on 19 March 1901, the son of John and Margaret McDonald.
He grew up to work as a farmer around Monto, in the North Burnett Region of Queensland.

McDonald enlisted in the Second Australian Imperial Force on 25 June 1940, and joined the Australian Army Service Corps.

The AASC was an essential part of the army, responsible for the transport and provision of supplies and rations; the management of personnel; mail delivery; transport resources for moving troops; maintenance, recovery and repair of machinery, vehicles, electronic equipment and weapons; and catering.

Private McDonald was troubled by illness during the first few months of his service. After periods of treatment and sick leave, he returned to duty, and in October 1940 was taken on strength of the 8th Division Ammunition Company.
McDonald continued to be troubled by illness in February 1941, and shortly after was found absent without leave, receiving a fine as punishment.

With tensions rising in the Pacific in early 1941, the British government looked to defend Singapore. As part of this build-up, the 8th Australian Division and its supporting corps began to arrive in February.

With assets already committed to the build-up of Australian forces in the Middle East, two special transport companies and two motor ambulance convoys were raised to help fill the gap. McDonald was transferred to 3 Reserve Motor Transport Company, which was filled with men in the 35 to 45 age group, many of whom were First World War veterans who had understated their age to enlist. As they were intended for employment on dock clearance in Singapore, their age was not considered a handicap.

Embarking at Sydney on 10 April, McDonald arrived in Singapore a fortnight later. His unit was initially based in Johore State, on the southern tip of Malaya, where it began training and was equipped with vehicles. From June it began moving to northern Malaya.

McDonald and his comrades were originally recruited for base deployment. But due to the lack of transport units, they found themselves deployed in support of 11th Indian Division in the far north of the Malay Peninsula.

In December, orders were received to adopt a first degree of readiness, and to open fire on aircraft “not established as friendly”. As the Japanese swept through south-east Asia, McDonald’s unit followed the Allied rolling withdrawal down the Malay Peninsula.

On 15 January 1942 the unit was transferred from 11th Indian Division to 8th Australian Division, which was at last being relieved of protection duties and establishing a new line of defence in southern Malaya. As this line contracted towards Johore, the company was kept busy evacuating formations to Singapore – and was itself finally concentrated there by the end of the month.

Its final task of the campaign was to help move the main body of the 8th Division across the Causeway separating Johore from Singapore. The men of the company were then sent to Java to join the intended 1st Australian Corps, which was to be formed in Java from the 6th and 7th Divisions returning from the Middle East. As those divisions did not arrive in time, the company became part of a scratch brigade designated “Blackforce”, which was soon run down in the Japanese invasion of Java after Dutch resistance collapsed.

After surrendering on 8 February, the men were imprisoned in the Bicycle Camp at Batavia, where they remained under increasingly brutal conditions before moving to Singapore in early October.

This move was the first step towards joining A Force in Burma, working as forced labour on the Burma–Thailand Railway. Starved of food and medicines, and forced to work impossibly long hours in remote unhealthy locations, by the time the railway was completed in October 1943, over 12,000 prisoners of war, including more than 2,700 Australians, had died.

Among their number was Andrew McDonald, who was reported as dying of dysentery on 7 October 1943.
He was 42 years old.

Today, his remains lie in Thanbyuzayat War Cemetery, alongside over 3,000 Commonwealth burials from the Second World War.

His name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my right, 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 Andrew Edward McDonald, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Duncan Beard
Editor, Military History Section