The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (NX86645) Private Allan Leslie Russell, 55th/53rd Battalion, 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 Charis May, the story for this day was on (NX86645) Private Allan Leslie Russell, 55th/53rd Battalion, Second World War.

NX86645 Private Allan Leslie Russell, 55th/53rd Battalion
DOW 9 December 1942

Story delivered 8 July 2017

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private Allen Russell.

Allen Leslie Russell was born in 1920, one of four children of Ernest and Jane Russell of Byangum on the Tweed River in northern New South Wales. His father was a First World War veteran who served in the Middle East with the 15th Light Horse Regiment. After school, Allen worked as a labourer in the Murwillumbah area, first as a farm hand, and then as a lorry driver.

Allen Russell enlisted in the Militia in 1938, and spent two years with the 41st Battalion (known as the Byron Scottish Regiment) at nearby Tweed Heads with his father. After discharging, Allen Russell married Rita Norris, who gave birth to a son the following year.

Following the outbreak of the Pacific War, Russell reenlisted in the army in January 1942. After five months of training as an infantryman in Sydney and Dubbo, he embarked for New Guinea with the 55th Battalion.

Russell arrived in Port Moresby in May 1942 and was sent to Milne Bay on Papua’s east coast to bolster the Australian and American garrison against the threat of Japanese attacks. In September, the battalion moved up to Owers’ Corner at the start of the Kokoda Trail, and patrolled along the Goldie River Valley to deny it as a possible avenue of approach to the Japanese.

The 55th Battalion later returned to Port Moresby, where it erected defences around Sapphire Creek. In the following weeks, it was linked with the 53rd Battalion to form the 55th/53rd Battalion. In early December, the 55th/53rd Battalion was flown over the Owen Stanley Range to Poppendetta and Dobodura where it relieved the 16th Brigade on the Sanananda Track.

Early on the morning of 7 December 1942, platoons of the battalion’s B Company made an attack against Japanese positions at Soputa in an effort to divert attention from the main attack being made against Sanananda. After two days of heavy fighting and harassing fire from Japanese snipers, the battalion successfully captured the positions at Soputa and nearby Sanananda.

Although a success, the fighting at Soputa came at a cost. The battalion had suffered over 130 casualties, including Allen Russell, who was mortally wounded in the head and shoulder. He was evacuated to the 2/4th Field Ambulance aid post, where he died on 9 December.

Aged 22 at the time of his death, today he is buried at the Port Moresby (Bomana) War Cemetery.

Ten years after his death, Russell’s parents and siblings inserted the following memorial notice in the local newspaper:

A smiling face, a heart of gold;
The dearest son the world could hold.
Deep in our hearts his memory is kept,
Too dearly loved to ever forget.

Allen Russell’s name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my left, among some 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 Private Allen Russell, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Aaron Pegram
Historian, Military History Section