The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (2/947) Acting Company Sergeant Major D’Arcy Dudley Eccles 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, 2nd AIF, Korean 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 Troy Clayton, the story for this day was on (2/947) Acting Company Sergeant Major D’Arcy Dudley Eccles 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, 2nd AIF, Korean War.

2/947 Acting Company Sergeant Major D’Arcy Dudley Eccles 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, 2nd AIF
DOW 7 October 1951
No photograph in collection

Story delivered 5 October 2016

Today we remember and pay tribute to Acting Company Sergeant Major D’Arcy Dudley Eccles.

D’Arcy Eccles was born on 6 February 1926 in Yass, New South Wales, to Thomas and Gladys Eccles. Thomas was a returned soldier who had served on the Western Front during the First World War with the 30th Battalion, and had received the Distinguished Conduct Medal and the Military Medal.

Eccles grew up in Bowning and Yass, attending Yass District High School. At the outbreak of the Second World War, his father re-enlisted for service and was posted to 16 Garrison Battalion at Hay. The family moved to Hay, and Eccles attended Hay War Memorial High School, where he gained his intermediate school certificate. After completing his schooling, he went to work as a shop assistant in town.

In 1942 D’Arcy’s older brother, Lloyd, enlisted in the AIF, and when the former turned 19 he joined the Royal Australian Air Force, mustering as aircrew. After completing his basic training and several other courses, in August 1945 he voluntarily discharged from the RAAF to join the army instead.

By the time he had finished his training the war had come to an end. He remained in the army, serving as an instructor, and by August 1946 had been promoted to lance sergeant.

In October Eccles reverted to the rank of private and was posted to Japan, where he joined the 66th Infantry Battalion as part of Australia’s commitment to the British Commonwealth Occupation Force in Japan. There he reunited with his brother Lloyd, who was serving with a transport unit.

Eccles was promoted to sergeant in March 1947, and with the formation of the Australian Regular Army the following January he signed on for a six-year term of service. As part of the new army, the 66th Battalion was renamed 2nd Battalion, Australian Regiment, later 2RAR.

Eccles returned to Australia in December 1948 and was sent with his battalion to Puckapunyal, Victoria. There he undertook promotion courses and was involved in training new recruits. When the Korean War began in June 1950, 2RAR continued to train regular army and K-force soldiers for service in Korea with 3RAR.

In June 1951 Eccles volunteered to serve in Korea. After a brief stop in Japan he joined 3RAR in Korea in July and was posted to B Company, where he was made acting company sergeant major. The next two months were relatively quiet for the battalion, but at the end of September it was committed to Operation Commando, and moved into its attack positions on 2 October.

In the early hours of the next day, B Company advanced through heavy mist to its first objective, Hill 199. Following a short fight with the enemy the hill was captured by the Australians. Two days later it set off once more through the mist for the initial phase of the attack on Maryang San. With navigation proving difficult, the company missed its intended turn-off and instead moved on to a nearby Chinese-held feature, which was captured after a brief skirmish. The Australians captured Maryang San by late afternoon on 5 October. The following day 3RAR captured a nearby feature called Sierra. B Company was again called on to capture the next feature, known as the Hinge.

At 8 am on 7 October, B Company began its advance. The advance went well, but as the Australians neared the Hinge the Chinese launched a surprise attack. Eccles was wounded in the neck during the ensuing engagement. He was taken to the Regimental Aid Post and loaded aboard a helicopter – along with another wounded Australian – for transfer to a nearby hospital. However, Eccles’s wound proved fatal, and he died during the flight. He was 25 years old.

Company Sergeant Major Eccles was laid to rest at the UN Military Cemetery at Tanngok, but was later reinterred in the United Nations Memorial Cemetery at Pusan.

His name is listed here on the Roll of Honour on my left, among the 399 others who died while serving in the Korean War.

This is but one of the many stories of service and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Acting Company Sergeant Major D’Arcy Dudley Eccles, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Michael Kelly
Historian, Military History Section