The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (VX58070) Acting Corporal David Clifford Carland, 2/14th Australian Infantry 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 , the story for this day was on (VX58070) Acting Corporal David Clifford Carland, 2/14th Australian Infantry Battalion, AIF, Second World War.

VX58070 Acting Corporal David Clifford Carland, 2/14th Australian Infantry Battalion
KIA 30 August 1942

Today we remember and pay tribute to Corporal David Clifford Carland.

David Carland was born on 13 December 1915, the son of John and Euphemi Carland. The youngest child in a large family, David was born and grew up in Waterloo, a small town settled during the Victorian gold rush.

His father died when he was two years old; his mother died when he was ten. After Carland finished his schooling, he completed a diploma of applied chemistry and move moved to Fiji. There he worked as an assayer for Fiji Mines, performing chemical tests to determine the purity of precious metals.

Fiji Mines was part of the mining boom in colonial Fiji in the late 1930s, during which gold production rose more than a hundred-fold. While he was in Fiji, Carland joined the Fiji Defence Force and served for a year.

Returning to Australia, David Carland enlisted for service in the Second Australian Imperial Force on 20 June 1941 at Royal Park in Melbourne. He began training, and was posted to reinforcements to the 2/14th Battalion.

On 1 November 1941, Carland embarked at Sydney, bound for overseas service.

He had been promoted to acting corporal and then acting sergeant while training, but reverted to private when he arrived in the Middle East in early December.

The 2/14th had been involved in the invasion of Syria and Lebanon. Its last major battle of the campaign took place around Damour in early July. Carland joined the battalion while it remained part of the garrison in Syria and Lebanon. Then in early January 1942, the men returned to Australia.

After changing ships in Bombay, Carland arrived at Adelaide in March. During the voyage, he had been promoted to acting corporal, but was found absent without leave and reverted to private as punishment.

In July, Carland briefly detached for duty to the 24th Brigade, but soon rejoined his unit as it prepared to head north to fight against Japanese forces in Papua.

Carland and his comrades arrived at Port Moresby on 13 August 1942. Just three days later they were on the Kokoda Trail, heading to confront the rapidly advancing Japanese.

The 39th Battalion, at that time the only Australian unit confronting the Japanese, had withdrawn to the small town of Isurava 12 days earlier. Poorly equipped, the 39th had to dig in with bayonets, bully beef tins and helmets.

The Japanese clashed with the 39th’s forward outposts at Isurava, a sign that their next attack was developing. The same day the first two companies of the 2/14th Battalion arrived to relieve the exhausted young soldiers of the 39th.

The next afternoon the 39th’s left flank was heavily attacked. While the Japanese were able to penetrate one of the company positions, they were beaten off by two quick counter-attacks.

As the Japanese sought a weakness in the Australian defences, the rest of the 2/14th Battalion arrived and its commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Albert Key, assumed command of the area. Although the 39th Battalion had the chance to withdraw for a well-earned rest, its commander, Lieutenant Colonel Ralph Honner, aware of the onslaught the 2/14th would face, decided it would remain in place. The men of the 39th, however, were moved into positions to the rear to allow the 2/14th to occupy the most threatened positions.

The morning of 29 August brought ferocious attacks. When a company of the 2nd/14th fell back, Japanese soldiers poured through the gap.

As night closed in, the Australian position was in danger of being overwhelmed and a withdrawal of just over a kilometre was conducted to positions around the Isurava Guest House.

The Japanese followed close on the heels of the Australians, and the following day brought no respite. Japanese forces attacked the Australians’ rear, threatening to cut the track behind them. A further withdrawal was ordered in the afternoon, but many soldiers had to fight their way out. When the 2/14th mustered at Alola the next morning, 172 personnel were missing, in addition to those known to be dead or wounded.

Among the dead was David Carland. He was 26 years old.

He and his comrades had been overwhelmed by superior numbers which, poorly equipped and supported, they could never match. Although the 2/14th Battalion was experienced and relatively fresh, its ability to wrest the initiative from the Japanese was undermined by the torturous march along the Kokoda Trail. This meant that the battalion could only be employed in the piecemeal fashion in which it had arrived at Isurava.

Carland was initially buried near where he fell. His remains were later reburied in Port Moresby’s Bomana War Cemetery, where they lie under the inscription chosen by his grieving family: “A wonderful son and brother, loved and ever remembered by all.”

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 Acting Corporal David Clifford Carland, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Duncan Beard
Editor, Military History Section