The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of Sub Lieutenant George Malcolm Paterson, HMS Defence, Royal Australian Navy, First 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 Ralling, the story for this day was on Sub Lieutenant George Malcolm Paterson, HMS Defence, Royal Australian Navy, First World War.

Sub Lieutenant George Malcolm Paterson, HMS Defence, Royal Australian Navy
KIA 31 May 1916

Today we remember and pay tribute to Sub Lieutenant George Malcolm Paterson.

George Paterson was born on 26 June 1895 in the town of Harwich, Essex, the youngest of five children of bank manager John Paterson and his wife Priscilla. In 1911, at age 16, George joined the Royal Navy. As a midshipman, he spent his first year of service aboard the training ship HMS Conway, an old three-masted sailing ship of the line dating from 1839. During 1913 he served in the pre-Dreadnought battleship, HMS Formidable, part of the Home Fleet’s 5th Battle Squadron stationed at Portsmouth.

During its early years, the Royal Australian Navy needed experienced officers. Many from the Royal Navy lent their skills and knowledge to its fledgling sister service. Among them was George Paterson, whose transfer to the RAN on 31 March 1914, just months before the outbreak of war, was only on paper. He was to remain serving in ships of the Royal Navy’s Home Fleet for another two years with a view to joining an RAN ship when the opportunity arose.

On appointment to the RAN George was serving in HMS Defence, a Minotaur-class armoured cruiser serving with the Mediterranean Fleet. After the outbreak of war in August, Defence first saw action in the pursuit of the German ships Goeben and Breslau. Later in 1914 Defence steamed to the South Atlantic before re-joining the 1st Cruiser Squadron in home waters. At the beginning of 1916 George was promoted acting sub lieutenant and was set to join a Royal Australian Navy ship, but for reasons unknown, he remained in HMS Defence. It was in this ship that George would participate in one of the greatest naval battles in history.

The Battle of Jutland took place on 31 May 1916 in the North Sea off Jutland, a peninsula of northern Denmark, between the Royal Navy’s Grand Fleet and the German High Seas Fleet. A total of 250 ships were involved. Five members of the Royal Australian Navy are known to have served with the Royal Navy at Jutland and there were likely others. More Australians would have been there had HMAS Australia not been damaged in an accidental collision a month earlier. Australia was still undergoing repairs and missed the battle.

The German plan was to lure a portion of Britain’s much larger Grand Fleet into the North Sea where it could be isolated, outnumbered, and defeated. The British, after being tipped off by signals intelligence, put their entire force to sea to confront them. Vice-Admiral Beatty’s battlecruisers raced ahead of the main fleet and soon found themselves tangling with the entire enemy force. After two of his ships were blown up and sunk, Beatty steamed north towards the support of the approaching Grand Fleet under Admiral Sir John Jellicoe.

Soon after 6 pm, as the two main fleets closed, HMS Defence and HMS Warrior broke away from Jellicoe’s line to engage a disabled German cruiser. In executing the break-away manoeuvre they almost caused multiple collisions with Beatty’s ships, but pressing ahead, then came into range of the main German battle fleet, which engaged. Defence was hit by two salvoes that caused ammunition storage magazines to detonate. The ship was engulfed in an enormous ball of flame and smoke before disappearing. Many of the Grand Fleet witnessed this shocking event. A midshipman in HMS Malaya wrote:

Defence appeared between us and the enemy on our starboard quarter and after firing several rounds was suddenly enveloped in smoke and flames … when these lifted, there was only a small space of smooth water where two minutes before had been a ship and her crew of 900 men. Just before this I had been thinking of the four midshipmen of my term who were in her, so it is hardly surprising that the sight of her blowing up brought home to me just what we were taking part in … it came with a distinct shock …

Defence was sunk with the loss of all on board – about 900 men. Among them was Sub Lieutenant George Paterson. He was 20 years old.
When several other British ships went the same way that fateful day, it soon became apparent that the catastrophic explosions were caused by lax safety procedures. Extra cordite stowed in the gun turrets and failure to lock safety doors meant that when the turrets were hit, the cordite ignited and flashed down the shafts to detonate the main ammunition magazines between decks.

It was a harsh lesson that day, with over 6,000 British sailors dead. Although the British lost more ships and men at Jutland, they could claim a strategic victory. The German High Seas Fleet could not challenge the Royal Navy for control of the sea, and remained trapped in port for the rest of the war. Germany remained under blockade.

George Paterson’s name is listed on the Plymouth Naval Memorial and also on the Roll of Honour on my right, among the almost 62,000 who died while serving with the Australian forces in the First World War.

This is but one of the many stories of service and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Sub Lieutenant George Malcolm Paterson, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Craig Tibbitts
Historian, Military History Section