The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (2140) Lance Corporal Thomas Foggo, 9th Battalion (Infantry), First World War

The Last Post Ceremony is presented in the Commemorative area of the Australian War Memorial every day. The ceremony commemorates more than 102,000 Australians who have given their lives in war and other operations and whose names are recorded on the Roll of Honour. At each ceremony the story behind one of the names on the Roll of Honour is told. Hosted by Richard Cruise, the story for this day was on (2140) Lance Corporal Thomas Foggo, 9th Battalion (Infantry), First World War.

2140 Lance Corporal Thomas Foggo, 9th Battalion
DOW 26 July 1916
No photograph in collection

Story delivered 29 July 2013

Today, we remember and pay tribute to Lance Corporal Thomas Foggo.

Thomas Foggo was a 22-year-old baker from Riley's Hill in New South Wales when he joined the First AIF. He travelled from Lismore to Brisbane to enlist in the 9th Battalion in April 1915. He trained in Australia and was then sent to Gallipoli to fight the Turks. After just a few weeks at ANZAC Cove he was sent to hospital with a septic ulcer on his leg, but rejoined his unit after treatment.

Following the evacuation and a period of training in Egypt, the 9th Battalion was sent to France to fight on the Western Front. Their first operation was against the French village of Pozières, which the Germans had turned into a fortified outpost of their second line of defence on the Somme. But as the battalion made their assault on the village, Thomas Foggo was wounded in the left leg and arm. Although there was a severe shortage of stretcher-bearers at the time, he managed to get to a casualty clearing station behind the line. His wounds were deemed fairly serious but after a short time in the hospital he seemed quite cheerful. Medical staff expected him to pull through, but he worsened, and Thomas Foggo died of his wounds on the morning of July the 26th, 1916. He was buried alongside his comrades in the Puchevillers British Cemetery in France.

His name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my right, along with around more than 60,000 others from the First World War.

This is but one of the many stories of courage and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Lance Corporal Thomas Foggo and all those Australians who have given their lives in the service of our nation.