The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (NX69261) Private Albert Anderson, 2/3 Motor Ambulance Convoy, Australian Army Service Corps, 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 (NX69261) Private Albert Anderson, 2/3 Motor Ambulance Convoy, Australian Army Service Corps, Second World War.

NX69261 Private Albert Anderson, 2/3 Motor Ambulance Convoy, Australian Army Service Corps
DOI 11 May 1945

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private Albert Anderson.

Albert Anderson was born on 26 July 1905 in the Sydney suburb of Paddington, to Amelia and Andrew Anderson. He married Doris May Rose and had four children: Doris, Ruby, Faye, and Stanley.

Anderson was 35 and serving as a lance corporal and motor driver with the Militia when he enlisted in the Second Australian Imperial Force on the 3rd of March 1941. He was posted to the 2/3rd Motor Ambulance Convoy and the next month embarked for Singapore, arriving on 24 April.

With Japan’s entry into the war, an invasion of the Malayan peninsula preceded the attack on Pearl Harbor by a few hours. From mid-January 1942, the units of the 8th Division were embroiled in fierce fighting against the Japanese. During this time the 2/3rd Motor Ambulance Convoy saw constant action, transporting the wounded to safety over dangerous terrain and under fire.

On 14 February 1942, Commonwealth forces in Malaya were forced to surrender, and Private Anderson was among the 45,000 British and Australian troops who became prisoners of war. His unit was tasked with transporting the wounded Commonwealth troops into Changi prisoner-of-war camp, where he was held for five months. During this time he was able to send a brief letter to his wife, reading: “I am a prisoner of war. I am fit and well. Love to you and the children.” He was described by his mates as “a caring man with a well-developed sense of humour”.

He was initially held at Changi prisoner-of-war camp, but the Japanese soon called for working parties to build and expand new infrastructure across their empire. In July Anderson volunteered with B Force, which left for Borneo in July 1942. The men had been assured of better food and conditions, but the almost 1,500 members of B Force found themselves on a hellish sea journey, crammed into the cargo holds of the Ubi Maru for 11 days before arriving at Sandakan.

Conditions at Sandakan soon devolved into some of the worst experienced by prisoners of the Japanese. Prisoners, including the sick, were forced at gunpoint to work on the construction of a military airstrip, and were often beaten by their captors. Illness and death ravaged the camp, and food was scarce.

The completed airfield was soon destroyed by Allied aircraft bombing, and between January and May 1945 those prisoners who could be made to walk were forced into a series of marches west to Ranau – a distance of around 260 kilometres. Those who were too sick to make the journey were left behind to die. Of the more than 2,400 prisoners in Sandakan, only six survived the war. Before the second march took place, Private Albert Anderson died of malaria, on 11 May 1945. He was 39 years old.

Japan surrendered to the Allies on 15 August. That October, a recovery team sent to Borneo found a non-issue identity tag that had belonged to Anderson in the ruins of the Sandakan camp. The tag, fashioned in metal, showed a map of Australia resting on a boomerang.

Private Albert Anderson was dearly missed by his family, who placed in memoriam notices in the newspapers for years after he died.

He is commemorated on the Labuan Memorial in Malaysia, and his name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my left, along with some 40,000 others from the Second World War. His photograph is displayed beside the Pool of Reflection.

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

Christina Zissis
Editor, Military History Section