The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (NX72705) Private James Frederick Anderson, 2/18th 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 Richard Cruise, the story for this day was on (NX72705) Private James Frederick Anderson, 2/18th Battalion, Second Australian Imperial Force, Second World War.

NX72705 Private James Frederick Anderson, 2/18th Battalion, Second Australian Imperial Force
DOI 10 June 1945

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private James Frederick Anderson.

James Anderson was born on 24 December 1905 in Lawrence, New South Wales, the son of James and Florence Anderson. He had four brothers – Mervyn, Allan, Ray, and Aubrey – and two sisters – Ethel and Sylvia. The family lived near the Tweed River in New South Wales.

After leaving school James worked as a farmer. In 1930 he married Jean Arley Wilson, and the couple went on to have three children: Jim, Florence, and Phyllis.

Anderson enlisted in the Second Australian Imperial Force on 10 March 1941, aged 35. After marching out to join the 5th Infantry Training Battalion in Tamworth, he embarked from Sydney on 29 July, arriving in Singapore in mid-August. That October, after being hospitalised with mumps, he was taken on strength with the 2/18th Battalion.

Following Japan’s entry into the war in December 1941 the units of the 8th Division were involved in fierce fighting against the Japanese forces on the Malayan peninsula. The 2/18th Battalion was part of the final defence of Singapore, but 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.

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, after a brief hospitalisation with beriberi, 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, or were killed by the guards. Among these was Private James Anderson, who died of malaria on 10 June 1945. He was 39 years old.

Of the more than 2,400 prisoners in Sandakan, only six survived the war. Jean Anderson did not receive confirmation of her husband’s death until November. He was deeply mourned by his family, who placed in memoriam notices in the newspapers for years after his death. One, inserted by his children, read:

We often look at your picture,
And you smile and seem to say,
“Don’t grieve, I am only sleeping;
We will meet again some day.”

Private James Frederick Anderson is commemorated at 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.

This is but one of the many stories of service and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Private James Frederick Anderson, and all those Australians who have given their lives in service of our nation.

Christina Zissis
Editor, Military History Section