The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (NX36136) Private Robert Paginton, 2/13th Battalion, 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 (NX36136) Private Robert Paginton, 2/13th Battalion, AIF, Second World War.

NX36136 Private Robert Paginton, 2/13th Battalion, AIF
DOW 22 June 1941

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private Robert Paginton.

Robert Paginton was born on 8 August 1907, the youngest of 11 children born to John and Eliza Paginton of Malmesbury in the south-west of England. In September 1924, at the age of 16, Paginton travelled by himself to Australia, and he took up work as a farm labourer on a property called “The Peak” at Binya, in the central west of New South Wales. He later lived in nearby Weethalle.
In July 1940, Paginton travelled to Wagga Wagga and enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force. He trained with the 13th Infantry Training Battalion at Wagga Wagga and Tamworth, and in April 1941 travelled to Sydney, where he embarked for service overseas.

Sailing for Egypt, Paginton joined the staging camp at Amira, and in early June moved to Tobruk with the 2/13th Infantry Battalion. Paginton came to Tobruk just as the German Afrika Corps, commanded by Lieutenant General Erwin Rommel, moved to surround the North African port, subjecting Australian forces there to a prolonged siege.
Australian troops at Tobruk operated in difficult conditions and with scarce resources, subjected to near constant artillery and machine-gun fire, and attack from Axis aircraft. They conducted patrols near the German lines to sure up defences. Their determination earned them the nickname the “Rats of Tobruk”.

On 22 June 1941, Paginton died of wounds received in action. The chaotic nature of the fighting at Tobruk makes unclear exactly what happened to him, but he was likely wounded by enemy mortar fire, or by setting off a booby trap set by German and Italian troops in the areas surrounding Tobruk.

Robert Paginton was 33 years old. He had been in North Africa for less than two months.

Today, his remains lie buried at the Tobruk War Cemetery in Libya, where more than 2,250 Commonwealth servicemen of the Second World War now lie. His family in England, who he had not seen since he was 16 years old, chose the following epitaph for his tombstone: “Not a day do we forget you, in our hearts you’re always near”.
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 Private Robert Paginton, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

David Sutton
Historian, Military History Section