The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (QX40685) Private Thomas Lawrence, 47th Battalion, Second Australian Imperial 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 Joanne Smedley, the story for this day was on (QX40685) Private Thomas Lawrence, 47th Battalion, Second Australian Imperial Force, Second World War.

QX40685 Private Thomas Lawrence, 47th Battalion, Second Australian Imperial Force
KIA 28 August 1943

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private Thomas Lawrence.

Thomas Lawrence was born on 19 April 1913 in Maryborough, Queensland, to John Thomas and Charlotte Mary Lawrence. He had two sisters, Margaret and Gladys. He grew up on the family farm “Abbotsan” in Tiaro, where he attended the Tiaro State School, and afterwards became a cane farmer, like his father.

Lawrence enlisted in the Australian Military Forces on 21 January 1939. In 1940 he became engaged to Mavis Adeline List, and before the wedding they celebrated with a shower for family and friends, featuring recitals, music, and dancing. On 26 June they married, and a son, Robert, was later born to the couple.

In December 1941 Lawrence was called up for training as part of the 47th Battalion, and the following month was made lance corporal. He enlisted in the Second Australian Imperial Force in September 1942, this time as a private. On 19 March 1943 he embarked with his unit to New Guinea aboard the transport ship Tarooma. There he served with his unit, apart from a month spent detached as part of Goodenough Force in June.

In 1943 the Allied forces in New Guinea began a major campaign to take the Japanese-occupied port of Lae. Australian forces were directed towards Salamaua, the object being to divert Japanese forces from the main target. On 23 August the 5th Division, to which the 47th Battalion belonged, took over the Allied advance on Salamau, and successfully took the objective after three weeks of heavy fighting. The Salamaua campaign cost the Allies 343 dead, including Private Thomas Lawrence, who was killed in action on the 28th of August 1943. He was 30 years old.

Eleven days before Lawrence died, Mavis gave birth to twin sons, Brian and Desmond. The army tried to get word to him in New Guinea, but he never knew of his sons’ births. He was buried at Salamaua, and later reinterred at the Lae War Cemetery in Papua New Guinea under the inscription “Loved in life, honoured in death, his duty nobly done.”

In the years after his death Mavis continued to place in memoriam notices in the newspapers from “his loving wife … and little boys”. One such notice read:
He never failed to do his best,
His heart was true and tender.

He toiled for those he loved so well,
And left us to remember.

Private Thomas Lawrence’s name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my left, along with some 40,000 others from 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 Thomas Lawrence, and all those Australians who have given their lives in service of our nation.

Christina Zissis
Editor, Military History Section