The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (WX8840) Private Allen Ethelbert Powell, 2/4th Machine Gun 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 Chris Widenbar, the story for this day was on (WX8840) Private Allen Ethelbert Powell, 2/4th Machine Gun Battalion, Second World War.

WX8840 Private Allen Ethelbert Powell, 2/4th Machine Gun Battalion
Illness 6 September 1943

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private Allen Ethelbert Powell.
Allen Powell was born in Northam, Western Australia, on 26 October 1907, the son of Margaret and Albert Powell

Known to friends and family as “Bonny”, he became an Australian Rules footballer of some repute in his local area, and when he enlisted in the Second Australian Imperial Force on 23 October 1940, he was married with a young son. His occupation was given as “prospector”, and would be later given as road grader. The 1930s had been the years of the Great Depression, and Powell had taken any work he could find. At one point he ran his own business, felling timber and cutting it into firewood for sale.

So keen was Powell to join the army, he put his age down two years, claiming to be 30 when in fact he was 32. While he was undertaking basic training at Northam Army Camp, his youngest brother, Bill, arrived in a group of new recruits. Bill had put his age up in order to enlist. As the older recruits poked fun at the baby-faced arrivals, Allen Powell stepped up to his younger brother, shouldered his kitbag and marched into the camp with him. The two were 16 years apart in age.

Allen Powell was transferred to the 2/4th Machine Gun Battalion. In December he attended training school, and in January joined a trade group, becoming proficient in the operation and upkeep of his weapon.

After a period of leave in July 1941, Powell and the 2/4th moved to Adelaide. As more of the 8th Division was deployed further north, by October it was in Darwin with the 23rd Brigade. The division's other two brigades were in Malaya and Singapore and the 2/4th was to follow.

Told of their move just before Christmas, the battalion left Darwin on 30 December, sailing via Port Moresby. After a Japanese attack on Rabaul, the convoy turned around, sailing to Sydney and then Fremantle, finally reaching Singapore at the end of January 1942.

By this time the Japanese had captured Malaya and were preparing to attack Singapore. After days of air raids, the Japanese attacked on 8 February. Deployed to different units, the 2/4th’s companies were quickly in action but within two days the Japanese had captured the island’s west coast. Five days later the British forces were pushed back to a defensive line protecting the city. However, the battle was virtually over and on 15 February Singapore was surrendered.

The machine-gunners suffered heavily. Between 8 and 15 February the 2/4th had 137 men killed or missing, 106 wounded, and 24 described as having “shell shock”. These casualties constituted almost one-third of the battalion. Worse was to follow, with the battalion held in Japanese prisoner of war camps for the next three years.

Following the surrender, the 2/4th was concentrated in Changi gaol.

In March 1943 Powell was drafted into “D Force”, a group consisting of over 2,000 Australians and some 2,800 British, which was sent from Singapore to Thailand. In Thailand the men formed part of a large workforce of slave labourers constructing the infamous Burma–Thailand Railway. The Australians were immediately split into four groups which spread, and later regularly moved, across different sites working to build the railway.

Nine and a half thousand Australian prisoners of war worked on the construction of the Burma-Thailand Railway, over two and a half thousand died working on the railway.

Many of the prisoners on the railway were malnourished and disease was rife. Allen Powell was recorded as having died of illness on 6 September 1943.

Allen’s son, Ian, then just six years of age, heard of his father’s death on the radio in Sydney and had to break the news to his mother.

Family members reported that Allen had always been noted for his great strength. Many years after the war, Ian met with his father’s army mates, who told him that his father had used his strength to help comrades who had been weakened by the appalling conditions. He was also told that his father had died attempting to take the weight of a drum from the back of a truck which fell on him, leading to injuries which lead to his death.

Today, Allen Powell’s remains lie in Kanchanaburi War Cemetery in Thailand.

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 Private Allen Ethelbert Powell, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Duncan Beard
Editor, Military History Section