The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (NX55834) Corporal Raymond Joseph Colenso, 2/18th Battalion, Second Wolrd 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 RIchard Cruise, the story for this day was on (NX55834) Corporal Raymond Joseph Colenso, 2/18th Battalion, Second Wolrd War.

NX55834 Corporal Raymond Joseph Colenso, 2/18th Battalion
KIA 9 February 1942
Story delivered 28 November 2018

Today we remember and pay tribute to Corporal Raymond Joseph Colenso.

Raymond Colenso was born on 10 June 1919 in the Sydney suburb of Paddington, one of eight children born to William and Winifred Colenso. Known as “Ray” to his family and friends, he attended St Michael’s school in Daceyville, and later worked in the Akubra hat factory.
After persuading his parents to allow him to enlist to serve for Australia in the war, he and his three older brothers Bill, Frank, and Ted joined up together so that they could look out for one another. They enlisted on 15 June 1940, and the four Colenso brothers were assigned and served with consecutive service numbers. A younger brother, Les, was too young to enlist.

The four brothers joined the 2/18th Battalion, following in their father’s footsteps. William Colenso had served in the 18th Battalion of the First Australian Imperial Force during the First World War.

Raymond Colenso and his brothers spent six months training around Sydney and Bathurst. On 1 February 1941 they set sail from Sydney Harbour, bound for Singapore. Not long before leaving Australia, Raymond, a keen poet, wrote the following lines of verse for his mother:
Although I know it hurts you to see your son depart,
I can but assure you, that you’ll always own my heart.
And when the test comes, Mother, from fire, bomb and gun,
It’s through I’ll come, because I am – Your loving son.

Raymond and his three brothers disembarked at Singapore on 17 February 1941, but did not stay on the island, instead moving north to spend 1941 training in the steamy tropical conditions of the Malay Peninsula.

The 2/18th Battalion moved around the Malay Peninsula: throughout 1941 they trained at Port Dickson, Seremban and Jeraluang, and at the end of 1941 – as Japanese forces began their rapid advance throughout south-east Asia – were stationed at Mersing on the east coast.

The base at Mersing did not come under immediate Japanese assault, but the troops stationed there expected action as they were close to Singapore. Over the New Year’s period of 1941 and 1942, they noted increased sighting of Japanese aircraft, especially reconnaissance planes. Japanese success on the west of the Malay Peninsula posed a threat to the flanks of the Australian position, so on 17 January, the battalion withdrew from well-fortified Mersing to Jemaluang, further to the south.

On 27 January, the 2/18th Battalion conducted a successful ambush of advancing Japanese forces at Nithsdale near Jemaluang. The engagement, however, was not decisive, and the battalion withdrew further south to Singapore.

Here the battalion was tasked with defending a sector of Singapore’s north-west coast when, on 8 February, the outnumbered and overstretched Australians came under an intense mortar and artillery barrage. During the 16-hour-long barrage, one company reported an average of 55 shells falling per minute on the section they were defending. The bombardment was followed by a major Japanese landing in which Australian forces were completely overrun.

The Colenso brothers were all caught in this terrible attack. Ted and Frank were captured and became prisoners of war to the Japanese. They would be released in 1945, after four long years of captivity.

But Raymond and his older brother Bill would not return. In the initial confusion of the attack and the subsequent loss of Singapore, they were reported missing, but were later confirmed to have been killed in action: Bill on 11 February, Raymond on the 9th.

As the brothers were initially reported missing, the family did not learn of their fate for many years. When his family received letters from the two surviving brothers, now prisoners of war, in September 1943, their mother said, “I’m just praying for the next mail about the other two boys. I never gave up hope.”
The following is a poem written by Colenso in the year before his death:
In dreams I often travel to the land I know so well,
In sleep I find much comfort despite the shot and shell,
Pleasant dream, old cobber, on watch I’ll take my turn,
Though while awake we quell it, our hearts for home do yearn.

Raymond Colenso was 22 years old. His remains lie in the Kranji War Cemetery in Singapore.

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 Corporal Raymond Joseph Colenso, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

David Sutton
Historian, Military History Section