Private Lawrence Desmond Anderson - 5/400055
Private Lawrence Desmond Anderson's photo is on display near the entrance of the United Nations Memorial Cemetery in Korea, along with photos of other Australian servicemen whose families have visited the cemetery to pay respect to their fallen relatives.
Anderson was born in February
1924 and grew up in Rivervale, a Perth suburb on the Swan River, attending Rivervale State School.
In March 1942, Anderson was 18 years old and working on the railways when he enlisted
for service in World War II. His army service file describes him as 5 foot, 9 inches tall, and weighing 143 pounds with dark hair and hazel eyes.
Anderson’s service records have been digitalized by the National Archives of Australia and making it possible to track his service during WWII and the Korean War. He spent the early part of his WWII service with the Citizens Military Forces in Australia, but Anderson spent 18 months at the end of the war overseas in the Moresby Fixed Defenses. He was discharged from active service in September 1946.
His enlistment papers for the Korean
Special Forces in November 1950 describe his occupation as an unemployed
builder’s labourer. 26-year-old Anderson listed his father, Leslie Charles
Anderson, as his Next of Kin. He enlisted for three years or until discharged
from the Korean special forces.
Anderson spent January and early February of 1951 in Japan,
prior to being transferred to Korea. During this time, he got himself in a few
spots of bother, such as visiting a Japanese café, (which was against the
rules) and being AWOL, (Absent Without Leave), for a few days. There are no further records of
misdemeanours after Anderson’s arrival in Korea and the beginning of his active
service in the 3rd Battalion of the Royal Australian Regiment, (3RAR).
Anderson was killed in action on 5 October 1951 during the
Battle of Maryang San. 3RAR was part of the 1st Commonwealth
Division who advanced across the Imjin River to take a series of hills from the
Chinese. This battle is considered one
of the greatest achievements of 3RAR in Korean War but 3RAR suffered heavy
casualties. 20 Australian soldiers,
including Anderson and another WA solder Geoffrey McCunnie, were either Killed
in Action or Died of Wounds over a few days. Contemporary news reports state
that the casualty list of dead and wounded soldiers released on 12 October 1951
was the longest since the war in Korea began [1].
The photo above is of one of the high features that was
successfully captured by 3RAR at Maryang San, but with a very heavy cost of Commonwealth
lives. When Anderson died from a gunshot wound to his abdomen, he had spent 167
days in service. The telegram sent to
his father from the Military Board reads “I am commanded to convey to you the
sincere sympathy of the members of the military board who have learned with
regret the death of your son 5/400055 Private Lawrence Desmond Anderson on 5th
October in Korea.”
Even though his parents were assured that his memorial in
Busan ‘was in keeping with the gallant sacrifice of our forces,’ the loss of
their son would have been devasting. One small consolation was that his mother
was able to claim a war pension, but this took more than two years after his
death.
Anderson is remembered in Busan and in Perth. As well as being on the State War Memorial,
Anderson is remembered at the Harold Hawthorn Community Centre near his
childhood home in Rivervale. He is also remembered at the Aboriginal Resting
Place in Karrakatta Cemetery.
ANDERSON, Lawrence Desmond - Army Service File. https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Gallery151/dist/JGalleryViewer.aspx?B=5896188&S=1&N=86&R=0#/SearchNRetrieve/NAAMedia/ShowImage.aspx?B=5896188&T=P&S=5 Accessed 22 Mar 2023. (Note I could only find this file via a google search not via a record search on the NAA website)
AWM373 WO281/51 - [Headquarters: Commonwealth Division Headquarters, G Branch] Commonwealth Division Headquarters, G Branch, October 1951. https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/awm-media/collection/RCDIG1027463/large/5978987.JPG. Accessed 22 Mar 2023 via Australian War Memorial webpage.
DVA
(Department of Veterans' Affairs) (2019), The Battle of Maryang San, 3–8
October 1951, DVA Anzac Portal, accessed 23 March 2023, https://anzacportal.dva.gov.au/wars-and-missions/korean-war-1950-1953/events/china-intervenes-korean-war/battle-maryang-san-3-8-october-1951
DVA (Department of
Veterans' Affairs) (2022), A chronology of the Korean War, DVA Anzac Portal,
accessed 23 March 2023, https://anzacportal.dva.gov.au/wars-and-missions/korean-war-1950-1953/korean-war/cold-war-and-crisis-korea/chronology-korean-war
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