The Australian War Memorial will commemorate the service and sacrifice of Bega brothers Private Dudley Lucas and Private Basil Albert Lucas at the Last Post Ceremony on Wednesday 15 January 2025, the 83rd anniversary of Dudley's death.
"Dudley and Basil were born in Bega, New South Wales, the ninth and twelfth of 15 children born to Alice Christina Boneham and her husband Henry Joseph Lucas," Australian War Memorial Director Matt Anderson said. "Dudley was born on 9 October 1919, and Basil was born five years later on 21 September 1924."
With the outbreak of the Second World War, Dudley and Basil were eager to enlist. Aged just 16 and lying about his date of birth, Basil enlisted in the Australian Army on 4 April 1941, signing his attestation papers in Sydney alongside his brother Cecil. Following several failed attempts, Dudley successfully enlisted for service at Cooma on 30 May 1941.
Basil and Cecil joined the 2/3rd Battalion in the Middle East in September 1941, while Dudley arrived in Singapore in mid-August 1941, serving with the 2/30th Battalion.
On 14 and 15 January 1942, the 2/30th Battalion attacked Japanese forces at Gemencheh Bridge in Malaya. Private Dudley Lucas was among 20 Australians killed or missing in action.
On 10 March 1942, Basil departed the Middle East with the 2/3rd Battalion bound for Ceylon, leaving Cecil behind in hospital. The day after Basil's 18th birthday in September 1942, the 2/3rd Battalion disembarked at Port Moresby in New Guinea. Basil was hospitalised with a fever on 15 October and died of malaria on 25 November 1942. He was 18 years old.
In April 1946, it was determined that Private Dudley Lucas was officially presumed dead, his date of death set as 15 January 1942. Dudley was 22 years old.
Nine of the ten Lucas brothers served in the Second World War, often enlisting multiple times until they were accepted for service. In 2017, a tribute plaque was dedicated in Bega in memory of Henry Lucas and his nine sons.
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 3,800 ceremonies, each featuring an individual story of service from colonial 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," Mr 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 Dudley Lucas and Private Basil Albert Lucas 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.
