The Australian War Memorial in Canberra will be commemorating the service and sacrifice of Myola resident Ronald Richard Veivers at the Last Post Ceremony on Tuesday, 23 January 2024.
“Private Veivers was born in Mareeba in 1921 and served in the army in New Guinea during the Second World War,” said Duncan Beard of the Australian War Memorial said.
“Ronald grew up in a large family in Myola, just outside Cairns. He worked as a stockman before enlisting in the Army in 1942, aged 21.”
“In January 1944 Private Veivers took part in the battle of Shaggy Ridge, which played an important part in the Japanese defeat on the Huon Peninsula, New Guinea. Ronald was killed during the assault and buried near where he fell, before being reburied at Lae War Cemetery, where his remains lie today.”
The Last Post ceremony is held at 4.30 pm every day except Christmas Day in the Commemorative area of the Australian War Memorial.
Each ceremony shares the story behind one of 103,000 names on the Roll of Honour. To date, the Memorial has delivered more than 3,300 ceremonies, each featuring an individual story of service from colonial times to recent conflicts. It would take more than 280 years to read the story behind each of the 103,000 names listed on the Roll of Honour.
“The Last Post Ceremony is our commitment to remembering and honouring the legacy of Australian service,” Memorial Director Matt Anderson said.
“Through our daily Last Post Ceremony, we not only acknowledge where and how these men and women died. We also tell the stories of who they were when they were alive, and of the families who loved and, in so many cases, still mourn for them.
“The Last Post is now associated with remembrance, but originally it was a bugle call to sound the end of the day’s activities in the military. It is a fitting way to end each day at the Memorial.”
The Last Post Ceremony honouring the service of Private Ronald Veivers will be live-streamed to the Australian War Memorial’s YouTube page; https://www.youtube.com/c/awmlastpost.
The stories told at the Last Post Ceremony are researched and written by the Memorial’s military historians, who begin the process by looking at nominal rolls, attestation papers and enlistment records before building profiles that include personal milestones and military experiences.
