The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (VX24605) Lance Corporal Andrew Craig Baird, 2/22nd Australian Infantry 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 Troy Clayton, the story for this day was on (VX24605) Lance Corporal Andrew Craig Baird, 2/22nd Australian Infantry Battalion, Second World War.

VX24605 Lance Corporal Andrew Craig Baird, 2/22nd Australian Infantry Battalion
Died at sea (Montevideo Maru) 1 July 1942

Today we remember and pay tribute to Lance Corporal Andrew Craig Baird.

Andrew Baird was born in Geraldton, Western Australia on 15 April 1912, the son of James and Lilian Edith Baird.

Baird was living in the Melbourne suburb of Toorak when he enlisted in the Second Australian Imperial Force on 10 June 1940. The 28-year-old had been working as a machining expert, and was initially bound for service with the Royal Australian Engineers.

While training at Puckapunyal in July, however, he was posted to the 2/22nd Battalion. After a brief stay in hospital with pharyngitis, in September he was promoted to acting corporal. After another brief stay in hospital in November, this time with mumps, Acting Corporal Baird’s New Year celebrations saw him absent without leave, and he received a fine for the trouble.

In mid-January there was another disciplinary infraction, and Baird was confined to barracks for a day for having disobeyed a lawful command.

In March 1941, Baird and his battalion travelled by train to Sydney, embarking aboard the troopship HMT Katoomba, bound for overseas service.

Baird’s confrontation with authority continued. During the journey to Rabaul he was punished for making statements subversive to military discipline and the morale of the unit. Regardless, having arrived at Rabaul in late March, on 12 April he was appointed lance corporal.

At Rabaul, Baird and his comrades formed the core of Lark Force – combining with local unit of the New Guinea Volunteer Rifles, a coastal defence battery, an anti-aircraft battery, and elements of the 2/10th Field Ambulance and 17th Anti-tank Battery. Lark Force was later also supported by No. 24 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force.

Lark Force’s role was to protect the airfields at Lakunai and Vunakanau, and the seaplane base at Rabaul – as well as to provide early warning of Japanese movements through the islands to Australia's north. Like the other bird forces deployed to Australia's north, Lark Force was small, ill-equipped and likely to be overwhelmed by enemy attack.

The first air attacks on Rabaul began on 4 January 1942. Within days the Japanese had succeeded in destroying the bulk of the defending aircraft, while further attacks targeted shipping in the harbour and shore installations. By the morning of 22 January, 24 Squadron was virtually destroyed and its three remaining aircraft were withdrawn. With no use for the airstrips, both were destroyed and Lark Force withdrew, waiting on the western shores of Blanche Bay for the inevitable Japanese landings.

The invasion began on 23 January. By 9 am, communication failures and overwhelming Japanese strength had destroyed the cohesion of the Australian defence. After the Lark Force commander ordered a withdrawal that morning, on the basis of every man for himself, Lark Force disintegrated.

Groups of men, ranging from company-strength down to pairs and individuals, sought to escape along New Britain's north and south coasts. Some found small boats and escaped, while others were picked up by larger vessels operating from New Guinea. Around 400 members of Lark Force managed to return to Australia, 300 of whom were members of the 2/22nd Battalion.

A grisly fate awaited those who were captured. On 4 February, a group of 160 were massacred at the Tol Plantation shortly after they had surrendered.

Baird was lucky enough to avoid this fate. He was captured and became a prisoner of war, initially held at Rabaul. On the morning of 22 June he was one of the group of approximately 850 military prisoners and 200 civilian internees who were ordered to board the Montevideo Maru.
The Montevideo Maru sailed unescorted for Hainan Island, keeping to the east of the Philippines in an effort to avoid Allied submarines.

Eight days into the voyage, the Montevideo Maru was spotted by the American submarine USS Sturgeon, which manoeuvred into position to fire its stern torpedoes. Survivors from the Montevideo Maru’s Japanese crew reported two torpedoes striking the vessel, followed by an explosion in the oil tank in the aft hold.

The vessel sank in as little as 11 minutes. Of those aboard, barely 20 Japanese crew survived; over 1,000 passeengers died. According to a surviving Japanese crewman, Australians in the water sang “Auld Lang Syne” to their trapped mates as the ship sank beneath the waves.
The sinking is considered the worst maritime disaster in Australia's history.

Unaware of the ship’s loss, the families of those on the Montevideo Maru continued to send letters in the belief that their loved ones were being held as prisoners of war. It was not until after the war that they discovered their fate.

With no grave but the sea, today Lance Corporal Andrew Baird is commemorated on the Rabaul Memorial.
His name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my left, among nearly 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 Lance Corporal Andrew Craig Baird, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Duncan Beard
Editor, Military History Section