Capt Waller was born in the Rose City in 1900 and educated there until he was 13 when he left the high school and moved to the Royal Australian Navy College at Jervis Bay.
After service in the British navy at the end of World War I, he moved up the ranks until he was made captain in 1940.
After distinguished service during the early years of World War II, particularly in the Mediterranean Sea, Capt Waller returned to Australia to take command of HMAS Perth, a light cruiser.
In February 1942, Japanese forces were about to invade Java, so a combined naval force from United States, Australia, the Netherlands and Britain was sent to intercept them.
What ensured was the Battle of the Java Sea during which allied ships sunk or were forced to retreat.
Those that survived included HMAS Perth, the heavy cruiser USS Houston and a destroyer from the Dutch navy, the HNLMS Evertsen.
All three ships were ordered to sail south through Sunda Strait, between Java and Sumatra, to relative safety on the south coast of Java.
HMAS Perth and USS Houston left earlier than HNLMS Evertsen and shortly before entering Sunda Strait ran into a large flotilla of Japanese warships that were escorting a number of troop carriers.
What followed was a fierce battle during which several Japanese ships sunk or were badly damaged.
Heavily outnumbered, both of the allied ships sunk, first HMAS Perth — torpedoed with 353 sailors lost (some say 375), including Capt Waller — then USS Houston with 693 sailors lost.
The captain of Evertsen realised there were big problems ahead and tried to escape, but the ship was seen by one of the Japanese warships.
Before it could be attacked, HNLMS Evertsen deliberately run aground and most of the crew escaped ashore, eventually to be found and taken prisoner.
The battle of Sunda Strait has been described as “one of the bravest battles ever fought at sea”.
British Admiral Cunningham described Capt Waller as one of the greatest captains who ever sailed the sea and his death was a heavy deprivation for the young navy of Australia.
The Costume and Kelly Museum in Mair St, Benalla, has a permanent display of Capt Waller’s dress uniform and his medals.
Unfortunately, the museum is closed at the moment but residents are invited to visit the museum when it reopens and learn more about one of our greatest naval heroes.
— Article supplied by Alan Monger, Benalla Historical Society
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