The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (QX39260) Captain Benjamin Hooper, Z Special Unit att AAMC, 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 SHaron Bown, the story for this day was on (QX39260) Captain Benjamin Hooper, Z Special Unit att AAMC, Second World War.

QX39260 Captain Benjamin Hooper, Z Special Unit att AAMC
Accidental (drowning) 9 March 1945

Today we remember and pay tribute to Captain Benjamin Hooper.

Benjamin Hooper was born on 16 July 1916, the second eldest of seven children born to James and Margaret Hooper.

Benjamin’s parents were shopkeepers in Isisford, a small town in western Queensland. They later moved to Jambin and Alpha, where they continued to manage shops.

“Ben”, as he was known, attended primary school in Isisford and Emerald, before going to boarding school at Charters Towers, and completing his secondary education at Nudgee College in Brisbane. Dux of Nudgee College and captain of the school, he was awarded an open scholarship to Queensland University where he graduated in medicine, going on to be a resident doctor at the Brisbane General Hospital.

Hooper had joined the Militia in 1936, but in 1939 was discharged as he was working in a protected occupation. He rejoined in December 1941, and in April 1942 was called up for full-time duty. As part of the Australian Army Medical Corps, he was posted to the 11th Field Ambulance with the rank of captain.

The unit undertook intensive training in central and then northern Queensland, and in March 1942 was placed under command of the 29th Brigade. In August 1942 the unit embarked for Milne Bay, in support of the 7th Brigade. On 25 August a Japanese force attacked Milne Bay, believing that the airfields were defended by only two or three companies. The Allies, forewarned by intelligence, had greatly reinforced the garrison. Heavy fighting followed, and Allied air superiority helped tip the balance. Finding themselves seriously outnumbered, lacking supplies, and suffering heavy casualties, the Japanese withdrew in early September.

Due to the conditions on the island, evacuation from the field ambulance to the casualty clearing station was almost impossible, and the field ambulance overflowed with casualties.

Ben wrote to his family about the conditions in New Guinea: heavy rain, deep mud, and the inability to rest or change clothes. He treated some soldiers from his home town for malaria, and commented in a letter: “There is no doubt about the Australian lad – he may be hard to handle, but in a pinch, scratch him and you find the true gold beneath.”

Malaria was rife, and many were invalided back to Australia. Hooper contracted malaria in September, and was returned to Australia in October, where he enlisted in the Second Australian Imperial Force. He continued to serve in Australian Camp Hospitals in Queensland throughout much of 1943.

In early 1944 Hooper had a recurrent bout of malaria, and attended hospital as a patient, rather than practitioner.
After recuperating, he was detached for duty with the 7th Battalion in February and March 1944. Around this time, applications were invited for young doctors to become parachutists, and Hooper applied.

He was allocated for duty with Z Special Unit in late May, and towards the end of the year attended a parachute course, qualifying in January 1945.

Z Special Unit was a joint Allied special forces unit formed during the Second World War to operate behind Japanese lines in south-east Asia. Although predominantly consisting of Australians, the specialist reconnaissance and sabotage unit also included British, Dutch, New Zealand, Timorese and Indonesian members. The unit carried out more than 80 covert operations in the Pacific, inserted by parachute or submarine to provide intelligence and conduct guerrilla warfare.

Sworn to secrecy, Z Special Unit operatives were not allowed to tell anyone of their experiences until 1980. As one veteran later recalled: “Z was a different operation to anything else. You were never told what you were going to do. You weren’t allowed to talk about what you were training for. We didn’t know where we were going until the day we got on the plane in case any of us were caught. You could have been tortured and divulged information; we didn’t have it.”

While the unit was disbanded after the war, many of the techniques and procedures used by Z Special Unit were taken up during the formation of new Australian Army Special Forces units.

Given Hooper’s successful training as a parachutist, it seems likely that he was training to operate behind enemy lines, gathering intelligence, and training and arming local peoples.

He would not have the chance. On 9 March 1945, Benjamin Hooper was declared missing, believed to have accidentally drowned.

He was 28 years old.

Today he is commemorated at Perth War Cemetery.

His name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my right, among more than 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 Captain Benjamin Hooper, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Duncan Beard
Editor, Military History Section