Last 2/40th Battalion member, former WWII Burma railway prisoner Lloyd Harding dies

The last living soldier from a Battalion of nearly all Tasmanians who survived being a prisoner of war on the Thai-Burma Railway in the Second World War has died. READ THE TRIBUTES >>

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The last living soldier from a Battalion of nearly all Tasmanians has died.

Lloyd Harding passed away aged 99 on Tuesday, February 2.

The veteran has been remembered for serving as a member of the 2/40th Battalion in the Second World War.

Mr Harding and his fellow soldiers surrendered to the Japanese after attempting to defend an airfield in Timor.

Lloyd Harding of Montrose was the last survivor of the 2/40th Battalion, which was almost entirely Tasmanian. Picture: SAM ROSEWARNE.

The result for the Battalion was a gruelling life of labour on the Thai-Burma Railway along with some 13,000 Australians.

The Battalion of 1000 lost 271 men in action or while held as prisoners, but Mr Harding survived long after.

Veterans’ Affairs Minister Guy Barnett expressed his sympathy to Mr Harding’s family and friends, describing him as a “hero”.

Lloyd Harding of Montrose was the last survivor of the 2/40th Battalion, which was almost entirely Tasmanian. Picture: SAM ROSEWARNE.

“I was very sad to recently hear that Mr Lloyd Harding, the last living soldier of Tasmania’s 2/40th Battalion, passed away,” he said.

“The Tasmanian Government recognises the valuable contribution of Tasmania’s service men and women and we are committed to supporting the serving and ex-service community in Tasmania.”

A photo of Lloyd, right, with Don McNeill in Katherine in 1941. Picture: SAM ROSEWARNE.

Mr Harding had previously been accepted into the army in June 1940 and trained at Brighton Army Camp.

The attack in December 1941 saw the soldier work on the railway for nearly two years, living on rice and weevils and surviving malaria through tiring wet seasons and heat.

The 2/40th Battalion insignia. Picture: SAM ROSEWARNE.

A photo of Lloyd taken in 1940. Picture: SAM ROSEWARNE.

He then worked in camps across Thailand and Singapore before returning to Australia weighing only 30kg after WWII ended.

Mr Harding lived out his final years in Montrose and previously shared his remarkable story with the Mercury in 2017, saying at the time “there’s a lot we would sooner forget than remember, but the 2/40th Battalion must never die”.