PERSONAL REFLECTIONS

from the Last Post Service

BY NAIAS MINGO

Our Last Post Service is the Shrine’s opportunity to engage our community in commemoration; those who have served, their loved ones, and those who enjoy lives of peace and freedom as a result of that service. Each week we remember a different event and wherever possible the person laying the wreath in memory is someone connected to those events. A veteran who served there and, for some services, the family members of those who served or died. It is a chance to tell the stories of our people, our veterans and their families, and events both little and well known but significant to all those impacted by them. In many cases, through generations.

The Last Post Service has been running weekly since November 2019, in between COVID-19 restricted lockdowns, and the Shrine has received some beautiful feedback from participants in that time. Here we share the stories behind a few of the services and the responses from participants who were asked ‘what did this mean to you?’.

The Rip Incident

In Carolyn Argent’s article in this edition of Remembrance magazine, ‘Generations of Service’, she explores the Bergman family’s connection to the Shrine. Don Bergman was our veteran representative at the Last Post Service on 7 March 2021, remembering those lost in the Rip incident on 17 February 1960. Don survived the incident, three others did not. David, the son of George ‘Taffy’ Drakopoulos, joined Don at the Eternal Flame as they laid wreaths together in memory of those lost.

Capt Don Bergman and David Drakopolous at the Last Post Service for the Rip Incident 2021

photographer Susan Gordon-Brown

Sixty-one years since the Rip incident the impact of the event are felt by all those involved. ‘The Rip’ is a dangerous stretch of water connecting Port Phillip Bay and Bass Strait.

Seventy-four Commandos from 2 Commando Company set off from Point Lonsdale on a training exercise on the evening of 17 February 1960. Their task: to form a mock ‘attack’ flotilla of kayaks, inflatable rafts and amphibious jeeps. All headed for Portsea.

By nightfall the conditions had turned from calm to treacherous as a storm rolled in. Some of the group were overcome by a fierce tide; swept through the Rip and out to sea. Others were battered by huge waves, swamped and capsized in the darkened sea. Over the course of the night all but three of the Commandos were rescued. These three had died; one body was never found.

Don was an original member of 2 Commando Company, joining at its formation in 1955. Don remained in the company for over 20 years and was the longest serving member on his retirement in 1976. After a lifetime of military service, Don continued to serve his community as a Shrine Volunteer for 17 years, only recently retiring.

David was a young boy when his dad, George ‘Taffy’ Drakopoulos, died in the Rip incident. David represented the loved ones of those lost as he and Don laid wreaths together to honour the three men who died in the Rip, 61 years ago.

Reflecting on the experience, David told us:

It was an honour to attend the memorial with Captain Don Bergman. We go a long way back. Don and Dad started together at 2 Commando as Sergeants. To be there with Don was a special moment for me. It made me feel closer to my father, whom I lost at such a young age. Commemorating those lost at the Rip, next to my father’s oldest comrade, made the day that much more meaningful.

Sinking of the 2/3 Australian Hospital Ship Centaur

On Sunday 16 May 2021 we held a Last Post Service to remember the sinking of the 2/3 Australian Hospital Ship Centaur as part of our programming for the current special exhibition, Dean Bowen’s Imagining Centaur. We were privileged to be joined by family members of those who were lost and those who survived, members of the Returned Nurses Association RSL Sub-Branch, the Australian Red Cross and Melbourne Legacy.

Two days after the 78th anniversary of the sinking we remembered the horror of the event, the 268 innocent souls lost and the 64 brave individuals who survived. The day was wet and cold, and those present huddled under umbrellas as the rain fell.

Centaur was converted to a hospital ship and commissioned in March 1943. in May of that year, it steamed from Sydney with 332 personnel on board. They included medical staff, field ambulance members and a crew of merchant seamen.

it was before dawn on 14 May, crew were on duty and kitchen staff prepared breakfast for sleeping shipmates. At 4.10am Centaur was struck without warning by a torpedo. An inferno erupted. The ship sank in three minutes, going down by the bow.

Of the 332 souls aboard Centaur, 268 perished: 267 in the sinking, another of wounds—his body committed to the sea.

The 64 survivors huddled on makeshift rafts through day and night for 34 hours. They were retrieved by the USS Mugford and brought to safety at Pinkenba Wharf on the Brisbane River.

Centaur was marked with red crosses and floodlit, as stipulated under The Hague Convention. The identifying number—47—had been lodged with the international Red Cross and the Japanese government. The sinking was a war crime. Nothing less. News of the outrage shocked the world.

In 2009 the Centaur’s wreck was found off Queensland’s south-east coast. An at-sea service followed— conducted by the Royal Australian Navy—for the family members of those lost. A sense of peace prevailed as the grave, their resting place, was made known and commemorated.

We were joined by Tom Evans, representing members of the Centaur Association, and Vietnam veteran Colonel Jan McCarthy, representing members of the Returned Nurses Association RSL Sub-Branch, as our wreath layers.

Tom represented the enduring sorrow of the many families who lost loved ones in the sinking of Centaur. He is one of three grandchildren of Private Michael O’Brien of the 2/12th Field Ambulance, who died in the sinking. Tom’s grandmother never recovered from the loss of her husband. His mum was just four when she and her sister lost their dad. Tom and Jan placed wreaths at the Shrine’s Eternal Flame in memory of the 268 innocent souls lost in the sinking of the Centaur. Colonel Jan McCarthy then recited the Ode:

They have no grave but the cruel sea, No flowers lay at their head, A rusting hulk is their tombstone, Afast on the ocean bed. They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old. Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, We will remember them.

As she did, the rain cleared and a rainbow appeared over the shoulder of the Shrine. The Second World War Memorial Forecourt glistened and the sun set over Melbourne. At the conclusion of the service those present laid their own floral tributes. Joining the wreaths laid by Tom and Jan.

Tom Evans and Col Jan McCarthy at the Centaur Last Post Service

Tom sent this in the day after the service:

I wanted to thank you [Naias] and your team for such a memorable experience yesterday. I know I speak for most that the ongoing recognition and commemorating our family members’ memory and the tragic events surrounding them means so much. Your team at the Shrine were so professional and attentive, and the Last Post service very moving, with a rainbow on cue! The exhibition will be a significant chance for the public to learn more about it as well as experience the tragedy of war with Dean Bowen’s depiction of the sinking along with Ayumi Sasaki’s work.

TOM EVANS, 16 MAY 2021

Tet Offensive, Vietnam War

Image courtesy of Chris Cannan

The Last Post Service on 31 January 2021 remembered events of 53 years ago: the beginning of the Tet Offensive on 30 January 1968. On that day, in the early hours of the morning, the main offensive followed. it was the beginning of a year that was to see the heaviest fighting of the Vietnam War to date. Australians were heavily engaged during the Tet Offensive and it became one of the most well-known of the Vietnam War.

Image courtesy of Chris Cannan

Chris Cannan, a Vietnam veteran, joined the Army as a regular soldier in January 1965. He completed two tours of Vietnam with 2nd Battalion Royal Australian Regiment (2RAR) in 1967–68 and 1970–71 and went on to complete 20 years of service.

In his own words, Chris recounts events recorded in his Battalion Book describing 6 Platoon / Bravo Company’s first engagement in conflict during the Tet Offensive:

5 Platoon came into contact with a couple of Viet Cong. The VC broke contact and retreated back to their positions. We swept through the contact area coming under automatic fire from well concealed bunkers. After a couple of hours fighting from bunker to bunker, the enemy withdrew. Our losses were two killed in action. One being my machine gunner. We were about three or four metres from a bunker when a burst of automatic fire came. We couldn’t see the bunkers; they were well camouflaged. My mate was hit by the burst, killing him instantly. I’ll never forget our first big contact even to this day.

At the end of Operation Coburg, Chris’s battalion suffered seven killed in action, 35 wounded in action and one captured. Enemy losses were 91 killed, 36 wounded and one captured. Two-hundred and eighty weapon pits and bunkers were destroyed.

Image courtesy of Chris Cannan

Almost 60,000 Australians served in Vietnam from 1962–1975. Fivehundred and twenty-one Australians were killed and over 3,000 were wounded. The effects on those who served have been lifelong.

Chris laid a wreath to honour all members of the Australian Defence Force who served in Vietnam and the 521 members who died while serving there.

Chris told the Shrine:

I felt extremely proud to have laid a wreath for all Vietnam veterans who did not return especially for my mates in my own unit.

Naias Mingo is Director Visitor Experience at the Shrine of Remembrance.