The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (297) Private Charles Roy Stanbridge, 10th Battalion, First World War

The Last Post Ceremony is presented in the Commemorative area of the Australian War Memorial each 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 (297) Private Charles Roy Stanbridge, 10th Battalion, First World War.

297 Private Charles Roy Stanbridge, 10th Battalion
KIA 28 April 1915
No photograph in collection

Story delivered 19 August 2014

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private Charles Roy Stanbridge.

Charlie Stanbridge was the son of Charles and Mary Ann Stanbridge of Broken Hill, New South Wales. He was born around 1897 and attended the Broken Hill Central District School. He grew into a very tall man for the time, reaching six-foot-one-inch in his late teens. Like many of his era, Charles left school early; he worked for Humphries and Sons’ Warehouse in Broken Hill, and then for Mr Tregoning as a horse driver.

Charles Stanbridge was one of the first dozen men in Broken Hill to enlist in the Australian Imperial Force, which he did on 21 August 1914. He was posted to the 10th Battalion and left Australia with the first contingent. Although expecting to be sent to fight in Europe, Stanbridge was sent to Egypt, and from there to Gallipoli to fight the Turks.

The 10th Battalion was one of the first ashore at Anzac Cove in the early hours of 25 April 1915. Private Stanbridge was with the battalion as it boarded the life boats to take the men to shore. The battalion war diary records states:

absolute silence was maintained by all in our boats and directly the boats were cast off … we quietly rowed towards the shore. Dawn was just breaking and no sound was heard except the splash of the oars. We thought that our landing was to be effected quite unopposed, but when our boats were within about 30 yards of the beach a rifle was fired from the hill in front of us … right where we were heading for.

After the battalion was ashore, many rushed into the hills above the beach, and for some days there was a great deal of confusion until the line could be stabilised. Many were killed in action in those early days, but the exact manner of their deaths was not recorded. Charles Stanbridge was one of those who died during or shortly after the landing.

Some months later a letter was sent to Broken Hill by a friend of Charlie Stanbridge to let people know how he had died: “Poor Charlie was right up in the front line. He got shot through the head, dying instantly. He was a game boy, and died doing his duty for the country. No man can do more. He always played the game, and was every inch a soldier and a man.” Private Charles Stanbridge, whose final resting place is today unknown, was just 20 years old.

His name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my right, along with more than 60,000 others from the First World War. There is no photograph in the Memorial’s collection to display beside the Pool of Reflection.

This is but one of the many stories of courage and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Private Charles Roy Stanbridge, and all of those Australians who have given their lives in the service of our nation.