The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (QX22449) Lieutenant Lloyd Frederick Hack, Australian Army Pay 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 , the story for this day was on (QX22449) Lieutenant Lloyd Frederick Hack, Australian Army Pay Corps, Second World War.

QX22449 Lieutenant Lloyd Frederick Hack, Australian Army Pay Corps
Illness 1 August 1945

Today we remember and pay tribute to Lieutenant Lloyd Frederick Hack.

Lloyd Hack was born on 22 February 1915 in Ipswich, Queensland, the second son of George and Frances Hack.

Hack grew up in Queensland, eventually settling in Brisbane, where he worked as a bank clerk.

Hack joined the Militia in mid-June 1940, becoming part of the Australian Army Pay Corps and quickly earning the rank of staff sergeant.

As well as ensuring that the men of the Australian Army were paid correctly and on time, the Pay Corps were called on to provide financial management advice and analysis, to conduct audits, and investigate fraud.

In September, Hack became engaged to Hilda Cooper (known as “Bunny”), and in December the couple were wed at Albert Street Methodist Church.

In July the following year, Hack enlisted in the Second Australian Imperial Force, the all-volunteer force that, unlike its Militia counterparts, was able to serve outside Australia and its territories.

Having been promoted to lieutenant, Hack left his bride and marched out to Sydney. In September he travelled to Darwin, where he was attached to the 2/21st Battalion. The majority of the battalion’s members were Victorians. They had spent the past nine months in Darwin, training and on garrison duties. Following the Japanese invasion of Malaya the battalion prepared to move, arriving on Ambon in December 1941.

On Ambon, Hack and the 2/21st Battalion joined elements of the 18th Anti-tank Battery, 2/11th Field Company, 2/12th Field Ambulance, and other supporting troops to form Gull Force.

The commanding officer of the 2nd/21st, Lieutenant Colonel Leonard Roach, despaired at the situation facing the battalion: cooperation with the Dutch forces was difficult; transport, air and artillery support, and reserves of rations and ammunition, were limited; and the combined Australian and Dutch force, numbering 3,700 troops, was likely to be overwhelmed by the larger Japanese force. After a series of messages urging reinforcement, Roach signalled that the defence of Ambon was untenable. He was removed from command and replaced by Lieutenant Colonel William Scott.

On the eve of invasion, Scott relocated many of the defensive positions, leaving the battalion even less prepared for the Japanese invasion. Three battalions of Japanese infantry and a battalion of marines landed on the night of 30 January 1942. Despite determined resistance, Gull Force could not hold back the Japanese. On the 2nd of February, B and C Companies were massacred around Laha Airfield. The remainder of the battalion surrendered the following day, and were imprisoned at their former barracks on Tan Tui.

Conditions for the prisoners on Ambon were harsh and they suffered the highest death rate of any Australian prisoners of war. Contributing to the grim toll was the fact that all but a small number of medical personnel had been moved to Hainan Island in China.

Lieutenant Lloyd Hack was recorded as dying as a result of beri beri in the camp hospital at Tan Tui on 13 September 1945.

He was 30 years old.

Today his remains like in Ambon War Cemetery.

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 Lieutenant Lloyd Frederick Hack, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Duncan Beard
Editor, Military History Section