Hughenden veteran honoured at Australian War Memorial

The Australian War Memorial in Canberra will be commemorating the service and sacrifice of Hughenden resident Private Henry Prichard Green at the Last Post Ceremony on Sunday 28 July.

“Henry Green was born in Hughenden, Queensland, on 15 August 1920, the fourth youngest of 15 children born to English immigrant Harry Green and his wife Mary,” Australian War Memorial historian Rachel Caines said.

“Henry enlisted in the Australian Military Forces at Hughenden in July 1939, but had to wait until November 1941 to start his initial training.

“On 1 September 1943, while serving with the 15th Battalion in New Guinea, Private Henry Green was killed in action when the battalion came under fire from Japanese forces. He was 23 years old.

“Four Green brothers served in the Second World War; Jim, Alfred and David all survived the war.”

Henry Green is buried at Lae War Cemetery and his name is listed on the Roll of Honour at the Australian War Memorial, among almost 40,000 Australians who died while serving in the Second World War.

Henry’s story of service and sacrifice will be read at the Last Post Ceremony on 28 July by his great-niece, Warrant Officer Class Two Stacey Bolton of the Australian Army. Stacey’s grandfather was Henry’s youngest brother, Richard Green.

“As a current ADF veteran with a family history of service, I feel privileged to pay tribute to Great-Uncle Henry at the Last Post Ceremony in his honour,” Stacey Bolton said. “It means a lot to me and my extended family that our request for this Ceremony is being fulfilled.”

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 3,800 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,” Memorial Director Matt 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 Private Henry Prichard Green will be live streamed to the Australian War Memorial’s YouTube page: www.youtube.com/c/awmlastpost.

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.