Lieutenant George Hamilton LambPrint Page

The Hamilton Lamb Memorial Hall commemorates Lieutenant George Hamilton Lamb, MLA (1900–1943), the only serving member of parliament to die on service in the Second World War.

He entered the Victorian Parliament, being elected Country Party member for the seat of Lowan (now Wimmera) in 1935. He had a strong sense of social justice; some thought him an idealist.

Lamb enlisted for active service at the age of 40 and was posted to the 2/2nd Pioneer Battalion. The unit sailed for the Middle East and took part in the fighting in Syria against the Vichy French. Lamb was commissioned lieutenant in October 1941. Early next year the unit sailed to Java, where, only a month later, they were captured by the Japanese. The prisoners were moved to Singapore, where they were dispersed. Lamb was sent to the notorious Burma–Thailand Railway. Still a member of Parliament, he was re-elected unopposed while a prisoner of war, but died from illness on 7 December 1943. He is buried in the remote Thanbyuzayat War Cemetery in Myanmar (Burma).

Mrs. Lamb, of Melbourne, has given £1/1/- towards the erection of the Hamilton Lamb Memorial Hall in Oatlands Park. She is the mother of the late Lieut. Hamilton Lamb, in whose memory the hall is being built. He was former Country Party M.L.A. for Lowan and died in World War 2. The hall committee will employ two carpenters for two weeks to speed work on the hall. But more will be done by working bees. 
The Horsham Times (Vic) 6 December 1954

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