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Western Australia Bids Farewell to Last WWII POW with State Funeral

Arthur Leggett, 106, honored in Perth with military procession, symbolic tributes, and public participation on May 10.

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An old black and white photograph of a man named Arthur Leggett in a military uniform.

Overview

  • Arthur Leggett, Western Australia's last surviving World War II prisoner of war, was commemorated with a state funeral at St George's Cathedral in Perth on May 10.
  • The military procession featured a riderless horse with reversed boots, symbolizing a fallen soldier, and concluded with a Royal Australian Air Force flyover.
  • The cathedral's tenor bell tolled 106 times, once for each year of Leggett's life, as thousands of attendees gathered to pay their respects.
  • Leggett, captured during the Battle of Crete at age 22, endured nearly four years as a POW, including the grueling Lamsdorf Death March through snow-covered terrain.
  • Postwar, Leggett served for 29 years as president of the Ex-Prisoners of War Association of WA and dedicated his later years to educating young Australians about wartime sacrifices.