09-05-2025
Western Australia prepares for state funeral for World War II prisoner of war Arthur Leggett
West Australians will gather on Saturday to commemorate the state's last World War II prisoner of war, Arthur Leggett, who died on April 6.
He was 106 years old.
The veteran was a survivor of the infamous Lamsdorf Death March to Munich — where captured soldiers were forced to march across the Czech Alps while starving in the midst of the European winter.
He was 22 years old when he was captured by German forces following the Battle of Crete, and spent four years as a prisoner of war.
A state funeral will be held for Mr Leggett, which WA Veterans Minister Paul Papalia has described as a "once in a generation event".
At 9:40am on Saturday, a riderless horse — symbolising a fallen service person — will lead a military procession from West Perth down St Georges Terrace.
The number of steps taken by soldiers during the procession will equate to approximately one step for every kilometre Mr Leggett walked during his march in captivity.
The St Georges Cathedral's tenor bell will toll 106 times, once for every year of Mr Leggett's life.
The funeral will commence at 10:30am inside the cathedral.
Members of the public will be able to view a live broadcast in a viewing area in the Stirling Gardens, or on ABC TV and DAB+ Digital Radio from 9:45am.
Arthur Leggett was born on September 8, 1918 in Sydney, and first enlisted in the army in 1936 as part of the Cameron Highlanders of Western Australia.
His first exposure to warfare was as part of the 2/11th Battalion, in the Battle of Bardia in January 1941, which was the first battle fought by Australian troops in World War II.
By May of that year, Mr Leggett had been deployed with his battalion to Crete, where the German Airborne Division commenced its assault.
Ten days of intense fighting ensued, with planes and German paratroopers cluttering the sky.
On May 30, the decision was made to surrender.
Mr Leggett was captured and put into Nazi Germany prisoner of war camps, where he was made to work 12-hour days in coal mines.
In 1944, Russian advancements towards the war camps prompted the Germans to relocate — the Lamsdorf Death March — 800 kilometres through heavy snow.
The group marched 15 to 25 kilometres each day, suffering from frostbite, and eating whatever rations they could scrounge along the way.
American forces eventually arrived to liberate the prisoners of war, including Mr Leggett, and the Germans surrendered.
Following the German surrender Mr Leggett, and the 20 men he had led throughout his time as a prisoner of war, boarded a plane to fly to England, but that plane crashed after a wheel fell off.
Fortunately, there were no injuries, and the men were able to board another plane to freedom.
Mr Leggett served as the president of the Ex-Prisoners of War Association of WA for 29 years.
Later in life, he became a well-known visitor of schools around Perth, educating children about the experiences of war.
Mount Lawley Senior High School named its library the Arthur Leggett OAM Library in 2018.
In 2015, Mr Leggett wrote the autobiography Don't Cry For Me, documenting his life up to his 88th birthday.
