Hector Waller

Born on 4 April 1900 in Benalla, Victoria, Hector Macdonald Laws Waller was the son of William Frederick Waller, a grocer, and his wife Helen Waller (née Duncan).{{Cite Australian Dictionary of Biography|author=Goldrick, J. V. P.|author-link=James Goldrick|year=2002|volume=16|id2=waller-hector-macdonald-hec-11945|title=Hector Macdonald (Hec) Waller (1900–1942)|access-date=12 December 2011|archive-date=13 April 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110413182633/http://adbonline.anu.edu.au/biogs/A160565b.htm|url-status=live}}Lewis (2004), "The Navy's Finest Fighting Leader", p. 1. Hec Waller was named in honour of General Hector MacDonald, hero of the Boer War, and a forebear called Laws who was an admiral and a contemporary of Viscount Nelson.McKie (1953), Proud Echo, p. 25. The youngest of ten children, of whom eight survived infancy, he attended Benalla Higher Elementary School.

Waller entered the Royal Australian Naval College (RANC) as a cadet midshipman on 31 December 1913, aged thirteen.{{cite web|title=Waller immortalised|date=22 May 2009|author=Dowling, Matt|work=ABC Goulburn Murray|publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation|url=http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2009/05/22/2577921.htm|access-date=12 December 2011|archive-date=27 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150427153131/http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2009/05/22/2577921.htm|url-status=live}} He gained recognition as a rugby player and became cadet captain.Eldridge (1949), A History of the Royal Australian Naval College, p. 438. In 1917, his final year at the college, he was raised to chief cadet captain and won the King's Medal, awarded for "gentlemanly bearing, character, good influence among his fellows and officer-like qualities".Eldridge (1949), A History of the Royal Australian Naval College, pp. 79–80. Promoted to midshipman on 1 January 1918, he was posted to Britain where, in April, he was appointed to serve in the Royal Navy's (RN) Grand Fleet with the dreadnought {{HMS|Agincourt|1913|6}}.Dennis et al. (2008), The Oxford Companion to Australian Military History, p. 563. The ship did not see combat while he was on board.Lewis (2004), "The Navy's Finest Fighting Leader", pp. 2–3.

In February 1919, Waller was assigned to the light cruiser HMAS Melbourne, and two months later returned to Australia. He transferred to the light cruiser HMAS Sydney as an acting sub-lieutenant in September; his rank was made substantive the following month.{{cite book|author=Commonwealth of Australia (Navy Office)|title=The Navy List (1 October 1919)|location=Melbourne|url=http://www.navy.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/Navy_List-October-1919.pdf|page=33|access-date=12 December 2011|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304090147/http://www.navy.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/Navy_List-October-1919.pdf|url-status=live}}{{cite book|author=Commonwealth of Australia (Navy Office)|title=The Navy List (1 October 1920)|location=Melbourne|url=http://www.navy.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/Navy_List-October-1920.pdf|page=22|access-date=12 December 2011|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304073535/http://www.navy.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/Navy_List-October-1920.pdf|url-status=live}} In April 1920 he was again posted aboard Melbourne.{{cite book|author=Commonwealth of Australia (Navy Office)|title=The Navy List (1 January 1921)|location=Melbourne|url=http://www.navy.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/Navy_List-January-1921.pdf|page=30|access-date=12 December 2011|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304102256/http://www.navy.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/Navy_List-January-1921.pdf|url-status=live}} Promoted to lieutenant in March 1921, he underwent further training in Britain before returning to join the staff of the RANC. Waller married Nancy Bowes, a minister's daughter, on 7 April 1923 in the Sydney suburb of Lewisham; the couple had two sons, Michael and John. In April 1924, he was posted to the light cruiser HMAS Adelaide. Later that year, he began training as a signals officer in England; his classmates included Lord Louis Mountbatten. Waller finished at the top of the advanced course and, in May 1926, took charge of the Signals and Wireless-Telegraphy School at Flinders Naval Depot in Westernport, Victoria. From 1928 to 1930, he served with the RN as a signals officer aboard the destroyer HMS Broke. He was promoted to lieutenant commander in March 1929.

File:HMS Brazen AWM 302321.jpg

By this stage of his career, Waller had acquired a strong reputation for his communications work. In July 1930, he was posted aboard the Royal Australian Navy's (RAN) flagship, the heavy cruiser HMAS Australia, as squadron signals officer. He continued in this role upon transferring to Australia{{'}}s sister ship, HMAS Canberra, in May 1931.{{cite book|author=Commonwealth of Australia (Navy Office)|title=The Navy List (1 October 1931)|location=Melbourne|url=http://www.navy.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/Navy_List-October-1931.pdf|page=35|access-date=12 December 2011|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304202143/http://www.navy.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/Navy_List-October-1931.pdf|url-status=live}} In early 1932, he was assigned to the Navy Office in Melbourne, returning to Canberra as squadron signals officer in August 1933.{{cite book|author=Commonwealth of Australia (Navy Office)|title=The Navy List (1 April 1932)|location=Melbourne|url=http://www.navy.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/Navy_List-April-1932.pdf|page=14|access-date=12 December 2011|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304112441/http://www.navy.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/Navy_List-April-1932.pdf|url-status=live}}{{cite book|author=Commonwealth of Australia (Navy Office)|title=The Navy List (1 October 1933)|location=Melbourne|url=http://www.navy.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/Navy_List-October-1933.pdf|page=37|access-date=12 December 2011|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304074237/http://www.navy.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/Navy_List-October-1933.pdf|url-status=live}} He was promoted to commander in June 1934 and the following month became executive officer of the RANC. Departing the college in July 1936, he returned to England and spent six months in the British Naval Intelligence Division. A stint as executive officer of the repair ship HMS Resource followed.Lewis (2004), "The Navy's Finest Fighting Leader", pp. 4–5. In November 1937, Waller was given his first command at sea, the RN destroyer HMS Brazen.{{cite book|author=Commonwealth of Australia (Navy Office)|title=The Navy List (January 1938)|location=Melbourne|url=http://www.navy.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/Navy_List-January-1938.pdf|page=52|access-date=12 December 2011|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304083135/http://www.navy.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/Navy_List-January-1938.pdf|url-status=live}} His ship handling was criticised early on, but was soon reported by his superiors as having "improved greatly". Stationed in the Mediterranean, Brazen monitored progress of the Spanish Civil War, a duty that included protecting British merchant vessels and rescuing the crews of sinking ships.Stevens (2001), The Royal Australian Navy: A History, p. 97. By June 1939, Waller had returned to Australia to become Director of Signals and Communications at the Navy Office.{{cite book|author=Commonwealth of Australia (Navy Office)|title=The Navy List (July 1939)|location=Melbourne|url=http://www.navy.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/Navy_List-July-1939.pdf|pages=7, 18, 45|access-date=28 December 2011|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304080933/http://www.navy.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/Navy_List-July-1939.pdf|url-status=live}}

File:HMAS Stuart (AWM P01593-002).jpg

At the outbreak of World War II, Waller was appointed captain of HMAS Stuart, taking charge of a group of four other obsolete ex-RN destroyers—HMA Ships Vampire, Vendetta, Voyager, and Waterhen—that the Germans later nicknamed the "Scrap Iron Flotilla".Frame (2004), No Pleasure Cruise, p. 153. The ships were en route to Singapore for training when the British and Australian governments agreed that they should be assigned to the Mediterranean as the 19th Destroyer Division, under Waller's control.Stevens (1996), The Royal Australian Navy in World War II, p. 67. Arriving at Malta in late December, Waller made a positive initial impression on senior RN commanders; this was soon borne out by his actions during the salvage of the Trocas, a disabled tanker. In May 1940, he was appointed to command the 10th Destroyer Flotilla, which included the vessels of the "Scrap Iron Flotilla" plus four modern British destroyers, and a month later was promoted to captain.

Following Italy's entry into the war on 10 June 1940, Waller was involved in the search for minefields off the North African coast. A keen shooter, he blew up floating mines using a rifle and armour-piercing bullets. On 21 June, Stuart shelled the Italian-held town of Bardia.Lewis (2004), "The Navy's Finest Fighting Leader", pp. 9–10. The next month, his 10th Destroyer Flotilla participated in the Battle of Calabria. Waller's ships carried out bombardments of Fort Capuzzo on 17 August and an Italian seaplane base in the Gulf of Bomba one week later.Gill (1957), [https://web.archive.org/web/20141213095728/http://static.awm.gov.au/images/collection/pdf/RCDIG1070340--1-.PDF Royal Australian Navy, 1939–1942, pp. 206–207]. In September, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) for "courage, enterprise, and devotion to duty on recent engagements"—in particular, his pinpointing of enemy minefields.{{London Gazette|issue=34943|date=10 September 1940|page=5469|supp=y}} The same month, he transferred to HMAS Vampire while Stuart went in for refit.Lewis (2004), "The Navy's Finest Fighting Leader", pp. 10–11. As the Allied armies began to counterattack Italian forces in December 1940, the Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean Fleet, Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham, gave Waller command of the new Inshore Squadron, comprising destroyers, minesweepers, and auxiliaries. In his role as Cunningham's Senior Officer Afloat, Waller took charge of naval support for the Battle of Bardia, which fell to the Allies on 5 January 1941.Stevens (1996), The Royal Australian Navy in World War II, pp. 70–75.Gill (1957), [https://web.archive.org/web/20141213110436/http://static.awm.gov.au/images/collection/pdf/RCDIG1070342--1-.PDF Royal Australian Navy, 1939–1942, p. 292]. Shortly afterwards, he handed over command of the Inshore Squadron and returned to Stuart.

{{Quote box

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|quote=The cooks & stewards nicknamed Waller 'Hard Over Hec' as most of his wheel orders, in action, were 'Hard a Stbd or Hard a Port'. Waller would lay back in his chair, with pipe in mouth, on the bridge and actually wait for the dive-bombers to release their bombs before ordering the wheel hard over one way or the other!

|source=—Crewman quoted by historian Tom Lewis}}

Stuart and other ships of Waller's 10th Destroyer Flotilla supported the assaults on Tobruk in January 1941 and Benghazi the following month.Frame (2004), No Pleasure Cruise, p. 160. In March, Stuart escorted Allied troop transports to Greece as part of Operation Lustre, narrowly avoiding falling victim to Axis dive-bomber attacks.Gill (1957), [https://web.archive.org/web/20141213102938/http://static.awm.gov.au/images/collection/pdf/RCDIG1070343--1-.PDF Royal Australian Navy, 1939–1942, pp. 304–306]. During the Battle of Cape Matapan at the end of the month, Waller's ships were credited with sinking two Italian destroyers. From May to July, the 10th Destroyer Flotilla made 139 ferry runs during the siege of Tobruk, carrying supplies to the town's garrison and evacuating the wounded.Gill (1957), [https://web.archive.org/web/20141213093731/http://static.awm.gov.au/images/collection/pdf/RCDIG1070346--1-.PDF Royal Australian Navy, 1939–1942, pp. 390–395]. Waller was mentioned in despatches twice during 1941: in July for his army cooperation role with the Inshore Squadron off the Libyan coast, and in November for his service during the Greek campaign.{{London Gazette|issue=35231|date=25 July 1941|page=4370|supp=y}}{{London Gazette|issue=35342|date=7 November 1941|page=6495|supp=y}} In January 1942, he was awarded a Bar to his DSO for "bravery and enterprise in the Battle of Cape Matapan".{{London Gazette|issue=35443|date=30 January 1942|page=553|supp=y}}

Waller earned the personal admiration of Admiral Cunningham, who described him as "one of the finest types of Australian naval officers ... greatly loved and admired by everyone".Stevens (2001), The Royal Australian Navy: A History, p. 112. On the occasion of a visit to Alexandria by Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies, Cunningham escorted him to Stuart and declared: "And now you are going to meet one of the greatest captains who ever sailed the seas—his name is Waller".{{cite web|url=http://www.navyhistory.org.au/sons-of-the-sea/|title=Sons of the Sea – 1947 RAN College Entry|publisher=Naval Historical Society of Australia|access-date=12 December 2014|archive-date=15 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141215042616/http://www.navyhistory.org.au/sons-of-the-sea/|url-status=live}} According to author Ray Parkin, who began writing while a prisoner of war, "Andrew Cunningham and Hector Waller were cast in the same mould: men would follow them, suffer, and be glad about it. These were both men made by Fate for those ever-recurring Saint Crispin's Days of human affairs".Lewis (2004), "The Navy's Finest Fighting Leader", pp. 13, 25.{{cite web|author=Stanley, Peter|author-link=Peter Stanley|url=http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/remembering1942/perth/transcript.asp|title=The loss of HMAS Perth, 1 March 1942|work=Remembering 1942|publisher=Australian War Memorial|date=1 March 2002|access-date=12 December 2014|archive-date=22 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131022154308/https://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/remembering1942/perth/transcript.asp|url-status=live}}

File:HMAS Perth (AWM 301166).jpg

Departing the Mediterranean, Waller returned to Australia in August 1941 for service in the South West Pacific.Gill (1957), [https://web.archive.org/web/20141213093731/http://static.awm.gov.au/images/collection/pdf/RCDIG1070346--1-.PDF Royal Australian Navy, 1939–1942, p. 391]. On 24 October, he took command of the light cruiser HMAS Perth, berthed in Sydney.Lewis (2004), "The Navy's Finest Fighting Leader", p. 16. Perth had also lately returned from action in the Mediterranean, where she had participated in the Greek, Cretan, and Syrian campaigns, and been damaged on two occasions by German bombers.Frame (2004), No Pleasure Cruise, pp. 160–164. Waller was reportedly "tired" and "quite a sick man" at this time but nonetheless prepared Perth for action quickly.{{cite web|publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation|date=1 August 2011|url=http://www.abc.net.au/austory/content/2011/s3282526.htm|title=A Measure of Courage|work=Australian Story|access-date=12 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150106130804/http://www.abc.net.au/austory/content/2011/s3282526.htm|archive-date=6 January 2015|url-status=dead}} In January 1942, the ship was assigned to American-British-Dutch-Australian Command (ABDA) to help defend the Dutch East Indies. She set sail for the ABDA Area on 15 February, the day that Singapore surrendered.Gill (1957), [https://web.archive.org/web/20131220064801/http://static.awm.gov.au/images/collection/pdf/RCDIG1070350--1-.PDF Royal Australian Navy, 1939–1942, pp. 578–580].

The ABDA Striking Force that Perth had joined was crushed by an overwhelming Japanese force at the Battle of the Java Sea on 27 February. Low on ammunition, Waller made the decision to withdraw, accompanied by the heavy cruiser USS Houston under the command of Captain Albert H. Rooks. Waller's action contravened the orders of his Dutch superior, Admiral Conrad Helfrich, to "continue action whatever the cost, and till the bitter end", but the Australian was convinced that further engagement would mean pointless sacrifice.Gill (1957), [https://web.archive.org/web/20131220064801/http://static.awm.gov.au/images/collection/pdf/RCDIG1070350--1-.PDF Royal Australian Navy, 1939–1942, pp. 615–616].

On the following night, 28 February, Perth and Houston were attempting to break through the Sunda Strait to Australia when they encountered a Japanese invasion fleet escorted by an aircraft carrier, a seaplane tender, four heavy cruisers, a light cruiser and eleven destroyers.Lewis (2004), "The Navy's Finest Fighting Leader", pp. 18–21.Stevens (2001), The Royal Australian Navy: A History, p. 129. As senior officer, Waller was in the lead with Perth and gave the order to fire upon making contact with the enemy ships just after 11:00 pm.Gill (1957), [https://web.archive.org/web/20131220064801/http://static.awm.gov.au/images/collection/pdf/RCDIG1070350--1-.PDF Royal Australian Navy, 1939–1942, pp. 619–620]. In the ensuing battle, the Allied cruisers sank four Japanese transports and a minesweeper before they themselves were sunk, shortly after midnight on 1 March 1942. Having fought to the last of its ammunition, Perth was struck by two torpedoes, losing over 350 of its complement of 680 as it keeled over.{{cite web|url=http://www.awm.gov.au/exhibitions/fiftyaustralians/48.asp|work=Fifty Australians|title=Fighting Hec Waller|publisher=Australian War Memorial|access-date=12 December 2014|archive-date=6 November 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141106231426/http://www.awm.gov.au/exhibitions/fiftyaustralians/48.asp|url-status=live}} According to witnesses, Waller was last seen standing on the bridge after he had given the order to abandon ship, "looking down at the silent turrets".Gill (1957), [https://web.archive.org/web/20131220064801/http://static.awm.gov.au/images/collection/pdf/RCDIG1070350--1-.PDF Royal Australian Navy, 1939–1942, pp. 620–622]. He was officially listed as missing, presumed killed, and was survived by his wife and sons. Admiral Cunningham described Waller's loss as "a heavy deprivation for the young Navy of Australia", and Rear Admiral James Goldrick subsequently called him "the outstanding officer of his generation".

File:HMAS Waller (SSG 75).jpg

On 15 March 1946, Waller was awarded a posthumous mention in despatches for "gallantry and resolution" aboard HMAS Perth.{{London Gazette|issue=37505|date=15 March 1946|page=1440|supp=y}} His younger son John followed him into the Navy, entering the RANC in 1947.{{cite book|author=Commonwealth of Australia (Navy Office)|title=The Navy List (April 1947)|location=Melbourne|url=http://www.navy.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/Navy_List-April-1947.pdf|page=145|access-date=12 December 2011|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304113903/http://www.navy.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/Navy_List-April-1947.pdf|url-status=live}} Graduating as chief cadet captain, John Waller became a weapons electrical engineer and attained the rank of commander in 1967, before transferring to the Emergency Reserve as a senior Navy research scientist.{{cite book|author=Royal Australian Navy|title=The Navy List (September 1967)|location=Carnegie, Victoria|url=http://www.navy.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/Navy_List-September-1967.pdf|pages=88, 206|access-date=12 December 2011|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304115545/http://www.navy.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/Navy_List-September-1967.pdf|url-status=live}}

Hec Waller's name appears on the Roll of Honour located at Panel 6 in the Commemorative Area at the Australian War Memorial, Canberra, and on the Plymouth Naval Memorial in Devon, England.{{cite web|url=http://www.awm.gov.au/research/people/roll_of_honour/person.asp?p=524621 |work=Roll of Honour|title=Hector Macdonald Laws Waller|publisher=Australian War Memorial|access-date=12 December 2014}} He is also commemorated by Waller Crescent and Waller Place in the Canberra suburb of Campbell.{{cite web|url=http://www.planning.act.gov.au/tools_resources/place_search/place_search3?sq_content_src=%2BdXJsPWh0dHAlM0ElMkYlMkYyMDMuOS4yNDkuMyUyRlBsYWNlTmFtZXMlMkZQbGFjZURldGFpbHMuYXNweCUzRm9iamVjdElEJTNEMTAzNjgmYWxsPTE%3D|title=Waller Crescent|publisher=ACT Planning and Land Authority|access-date=12 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160313072413/http://www.planning.act.gov.au/tools_resources/place_search/place_search3?sq_content_src=+dxjspwh0dhalm0elmkylmkyymdmuos4yndkumyuyrlbsywnltmftzxmlmkzqbgfjzurldgfpbhmuyxnwecuzrm9iamvjdelejtnemtaznjgmywxspte=|archive-date=13 March 2016|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://www.planning.act.gov.au/tools_resources/place_search/place_search3?sq_content_src=%2BdXJsPWh0dHAlM0ElMkYlMkYyMDMuOS4yNDkuMyUyRlBsYWNlTmFtZXMlMkZQbGFjZURldGFpbHMuYXNweCUzRm9iamVjdElEJTNEMTAzNjkmYWxsPTE%3D|title=Waller Place|publisher=ACT Planning and Land Authority|access-date=12 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304064311/http://www.planning.act.gov.au/tools_resources/place_search/place_search3?sq_content_src=%2BdXJsPWh0dHAlM0ElMkYlMkYyMDMuOS4yNDkuMyUyRlBsYWNlTmFtZXMlMkZQbGFjZURldGFpbHMuYXNweCUzRm9iamVjdElEJTNEMTAzNjkmYWxsPTE%3D|archive-date=4 March 2016|url-status=dead}} The Benalla Costume and Pioneer Museum holds his medals and dress uniform.Lewis (2004), "The Navy's Finest Fighting Leader", p. 22.{{cite web|url=http://www.benalla.vic.gov.au/Page/Page.asp?Page_Id=683|title=Costume and Pioneer Museum|publisher=Benalla Rural City|access-date=12 December 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150228181228/http://www.benalla.vic.gov.au/Page/Page.asp?Page_Id=683|archive-date=28 February 2015}} The Waller Division of the RAN Recruit School at HMAS Cerberus, Victoria, was named in his honour until his name transferred to a division at RAN College in 2013.{{cite web|url=https://www.navy.gov.au/news/renaming-divisions-ran-college-and-ran-recruit-school|title=Renaming of Divisions at RAN College and RAN Recruit School|publisher=Royal Australian Navy|date=1 March 2013|access-date=12 December 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141216161048/https://www.navy.gov.au/news/renaming-divisions-ran-college-and-ran-recruit-school|archive-date=16 December 2014}}

HMAS Waller, the third of the RAN's Collins-class submarines to enter service, was commissioned on 10 July 1999. The attendees included Michael Waller, John Waller, Michael Waller's wife, and surviving crewmen of HMAS Perth.{{cite web|url=http://www.navy.gov.au/hmas-waller|title=HMAS Waller|publisher=Royal Australian Navy|access-date=12 December 2014|archive-date=31 January 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150131041704/http://www.navy.gov.au/hmas-waller|url-status=live}} On 13 March 2010, a memorial to Waller was unveiled in his home town of Benalla.{{cite web|author=Chief of Navy|url=http://www.navy.gov.au/Memorial_to_CAPT_Hector_Waller_unveiled|title=Memorial to Capt Hector Waller unveiled|date=14 March 2010|publisher=Royal Australian Navy|access-date=12 December 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120405014634/http://www.navy.gov.au/Memorial_to_CAPT_Hector_Waller_unveiled|archive-date=5 April 2012|author-link=Russ Crane}} In April 2011, he was one of thirteen servicemen—eleven sailors and two soldiers, including Teddy Sheean, Robert Rankin, and John Simpson Kirkpatrick—named by the Australian government for consideration as possible recipients of the Victoria Cross for extreme valour in combat, under a review by the Defence Honours and Awards Appeals Tribunal; no RAN member had ever been awarded the decoration.{{cite journal|title=Man with the donkey may at last be recognised|journal=Sydney Morning Herald|location=Sydney|publisher=Fairfax Media|author1=Carlton, Mike|author2=Welch, Dylan|date=16 April 2011|access-date=12 December 2011|url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/man-with-the-donkey-may-at-last-be-recognised-20110415-1dhw9.html|author1-link=Mike Carlton|archive-date=1 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220301233133/https://www.smh.com.au/national/man-with-the-donkey-may-at-last-be-recognised-20110415-1dhw9.html|url-status=live}} Concluding its investigations in February 2013, the tribunal recommended that no further award be made to any of the thirteen servicemen, but that the name Waller (among others) should continue to be used for RAN ships after the current bearer was decommissioned.{{cite web|url=http://defence-honours-tribunal.gov.au/inquiries/completed-inquiries/valour/|title=Valour|publisher=Defence Honours and Awards Appeals Tribunal|access-date=12 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140607000337/http://defence-honours-tribunal.gov.au/inquiries/completed-inquiries/valour/|archive-date=7 June 2014|url-status=dead}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite book| last=Dennis| first=Peter|author2=Grey, Jeffrey |author3=Morris, Ewan |author4= Prior, Robin | year=2008| orig-year=1995| title=The Oxford Companion to Australian Military History| location=South Melbourne| publisher=Oxford University Press| isbn=978-0-19-551784-2}}
• {{cite book| last=Eldridge| first=Frank Burgess| year=1949| title=A History of the Royal Australian Naval College| location=Melbourne| publisher=Georgian House| oclc=14472805}}
• {{cite book| last=Frame| first=Tom| author-link=Tom Frame (bishop)| year=2004| title=No Pleasure Cruise: The Story of the Royal Australian Navy| location=Crows Nest, New South Wales| publisher=Allen & Unwin| isbn=1-74114-233-4}}
• {{cite book |last=Gill |first=George Hermon |author-link=G. Hermon Gill |title=Royal Australian Navy, 1939–1942 |series=Australia in the War of 1939–1945 |publisher=Australian War Memorial |location=Canberra |year=1957 |oclc=848228 |url=http://www.awm.gov.au/histories/second_world_war/volume.asp?levelID=67910 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090525001721/http://www.awm.gov.au/histories/second_world_war/volume.asp?levelID=67910 |archive-date=2009-05-25 | url-status=dead }}
• {{cite magazine| last=Lewis| first=Tom| author-link=Tom Lewis (author)| journal=The Journal of Australian Naval History |volume=1 |issue=1| title=The Navy's Finest Fighting Leader: Captain 'Hec' Waller, DSO and Bar, RAN| date=September 2004| publisher=Naval Historical Society of Australia| location=Sydney}}
• {{cite book| last=McKie| first=Ronald Cecil Hamlyn| author-link=Ronald McKie| year=1953| title= Proud Echo| location=Sydney| publisher=Angus & Robertson| oclc=3611533}}
• {{cite book| editor-last=Stevens| editor-first=David | year=1996| title= The Royal Australian Navy in World War II| location=St Leonards, New South Wales| publisher=Allen & Unwin| isbn=1-86448-035-1}}
• {{cite book| editor-last=Stevens| editor-first=David | year=2001| title= The Royal Australian Navy: A History| series= Australian Centenary History of Defence| location=London| publisher=Oxford University Press| isbn=0-19-554116-2}}

{{Commons|Hector Waller}}

{{Portal|Australia|Biography}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20100423195009/http://cas.awm.gov.au/item/ART27505 Australian War Memorial: ART27505] – 1957 painting of Waller
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20120331202449/http://cas.awm.gov.au/item/ART27557 Australian War Memorial: ART27557] – 1964 painting of HMAS Perth in the Battle of Sunda Strait
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20111207083149/http://home.vicnet.net.au/~benmus/waller.htm Benalla Costume and Pioneer Museum: Captain Hector Waller display]

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Category:1900 births

Category:1942 deaths

Category:Australian military personnel killed in World War II

Category:Companions of the Distinguished Service Order

Category:Deaths due to shipwreck at sea

Category:Graduates of the Royal Australian Naval College

Category:Missing in action of World War II

Category:People from Benalla

Category:Royal Australian Navy officers

Category:Royal Australian Navy personnel of World War II