Country boy to Sydneysider remembered 80 years after VP Day

Just before the Second World War ended, Warrant Officer Class 2 Frederick Balfe Emanuel’s life was cut short when his B-24 Liberator crashed during an operational flight over Borneo.

On Friday 15 August 2025, the Australian War Memorial will mark the 80th anniversary of Victory in the Pacific (VP) Day by honouring the service and sacrifice of the young man from Coolamon, NSW, whose journey took him from a country town to covert missions behind enemy lines.

The Governor-General, Ms Sam Mostyn AC and the Minister for Veterans’ Affairs, the Hon Matt Keogh MP, will welcome Second World War veterans, members of the Diplomatic Corps, guests, and visitors to the Last Post Ceremony, which marks the moment on 14 August 1945 when the Allies accepted Japan’s unconditional surrender, and the war was finally over for Australia.

Australian War Memorial Director, Matt Anderson, said: “This is honouring a country boy who became a Sydneysider yet did not survive to finish his story.”

Born on 19 August 1918 to Robert and Beryl Emanuel, Frederick grew up in Coolamon before the family moved to Wellington, NSW. After high school he moved to Sydney, worked in a bank, and married Mollie Hancock.

Two years later, aged 22, he enlisted in the 2nd Australian Imperial Force, serving with the 2nd/6th Armoured Regiment in Papua before joining the Far Eastern Liaison Office, a special operations unit conducting dangerous reconnaissance and propaganda missions in the South-West Pacific.

“On 2 July 1945, Frederick boarded the fatal flight over Balikpapan. It would be only a little more than a month before the war ended and Frederick’s life was cut short in a B-24 crash over Borneo, “Mr Anderson said.

“His story is a heartbreaking reminder of how close some came to seeing peace yet never returned home.

“The Australian War Memorial was dedicated in 1941 by Lord Gowrie VC, who opened this memorial, archive and museum with the words “never again”.

FOR BACKGROUND:

The Last Post Ceremony is held daily at 4.30 pm in the Commemorative Area of the Memorial, telling the story of one of more than 103,000 Australians who have lost their lives in war, conflict, and peacekeeping operations.

The Last Post ceremony is held at 4.30 pm every day except Christmas Day in the Commemorative area of the Australian War Memorial.

Each ceremony shares the story behind one of 103,000 names on the Roll of Honour. To date, the Memorial has delivered more than 4,100 ceremonies, each featuring an individual story of service from colonial to recent conflicts. It would take more than 280 years to read the story behind each of the 103,000 names listed on the Roll of Honour.

“The Last Post Ceremony is our commitment to remembering and honouring the legacy of Australian service,” Mr Anderson said.

“Through our daily Last Post Ceremony, we not only acknowledge where and how these men and women died. We also tell the stories of who they were when they were alive, and of the families who loved and, in so many cases, still mourn for them.

 “The Last Post is now associated with remembrance but originally it was a bugle call to sound the end of the day’s activities in the military. It is a fitting way to end each day at the Memorial.”

The Last Post Ceremony honouring the service of Warrant Officer Class 2 Frederick Balfe Emanuel will be live streamed to the Australian War Memorial’s YouTube page.

The stories told at the Last Post Ceremony are researched and written by the Memorial’s military historians, who begin the process by looking at nominal rolls, attestation papers and enlistment records before building profiles that include personal milestones and military experiences.

HANDOUT image: www.awm.gov.au/collection/C1239297