The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (QX53395) Corporal Henry Walter James Duffy, 47th Battalion, Second Australian Imperial Force, 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 Emily Hyles, the story for this day was on (QX53395) Corporal Henry Walter James Duffy, 47th Battalion, Second Australian Imperial Force, Second World War.

QX53395 Corporal Henry Walter James Duffy, 47th Battalion, Second Australian Imperial Force
KIA 5 September 1943

Today we remember and pay tribute to Corporal Henry Walter James Duffy.

Henry Duffy was born on 10 December 1918 in Maryborough, Queensland, the second son of Michael and Bertha Duffy. He had an older brother, Edward, and four sisters, Molly, Violet, Doris, and Katrina.

In 1931 Duffy’s father, who had been displaying violent alcoholic and depressive tendencies, threatened to shoot his wife. His 17-year-old son, Edward, tried to stop him by hitting him with the handle of a pick axe, accidentally killing him in the process. After a trial no indictment was brought against the boy, as it was judged he had been trying to save his mother. Bertha was remarried in 1933, this time to Arthur Mohr.

Duffy attended Rossendale School, and later worked as a farm labourer at Kingaroy and surrounds. He joined the Australian Military Forces, attached to the 47th Battalion, in May 1941.

On 20 September 1941 he married Joyce Isabelle Brooks in the Bauple Church of England, and the couple honeymooned at Pialba. Henry Duffy was called up for full time duty in December, and on 21 January 1943 embarked aboard the ship Duntroon for Milne Bay in New Guinea, arriving three days later. He became a member of the Second Australian Imperial Force on 13 April.

That year the Allied forces in New Guinea began a major campaign to take the Japanese-occupied port of Lae. Australian forces were directed towards Salamaua to divert Japanese forces from the main target. On 23 August the 5th Division, to which the 47th Battalion belonged, took over the allied advance on Salamaua, and successfully took the objective after three weeks of heavy fighting.

Duffy, meanwhile, was promoted to acting corporal on 29 August 1943. On 5 September Corporal Duffy was killed in action during a patrol, allegedly when he threw a hand grenade into a foxhole filled with Japanese soldiers. He was 24.

Corporal Duffy was initially buried at Salamaua, and was later reinterred at the Lae War Cemetery under the inscription: “He hath fought the good fight. Always dearly remembered.” He was dearly missed by his family, who for years after his death inserted notices in the newspaper to honour his memory. One, inserted by his mother and siblings, read:

A beautiful memory, dearer than gold,
A son whose worth can never be told;
A loving smile, a happy face,
A broken link we can never replace.

Corporal Henry Walter James Duffy’s name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my left, along with some 40,000 others from 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 Henry Duffy, and all those Australians who have given their lives in service of our nation.

Christina Zissis
Editor, Military History Section