The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (6174) Private George Ross Seabrook, (6147) Private Theo Leslie Seabrook and (6182)Second Lieutenant William Keith Seabrook, 17th Battalion, AIF, 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 (6174) Private George Ross Seabrook, (6147) Private Theo Leslie Seabrook and (6182)Second Lieutenant William Keith Seabrook, 17th Battalion, AIF, First World War.

6174 Private George Ross Seabrook, 17th Battalion, AIF
KIA 20 September 1917

6147 Private Theo Leslie Seabrook, 17th Battalion, AIF
KIA 20 September 1917

Second Lieutenant William Keith Seabrook, 17th Battalion, AIF
DOW 21 September 1917

Photograph: H05568

Story delivered 4 April 2017

We pause here to remember and pay tribute to the three Seabrook brothers. All three were killed within 24 hours in the Battle for the Menin Road in 1917.

George Ross Seabrook was born on 14 February 1892, his brother Theo Leslie was born on 17 May 1893, and a third brother, William Keith (known by his middle name), was born on 24 March 1896.

William and Fanny Seabrook were raising their family of seven children in the Sydney suburb of Petersham, when Australia joined the Great War in 1914.

George was working as a master painter and had married Winifred Kean in 1913. Theo worked at the locomotive works at Eveleigh, stoking the fires of steam engines. Keith had left his job as a telephonist to enlist in the Militia in August 1915, and was commissioned as lieutenant. Because he was too young for a commission in the forces to be sent overseas, he served as a lieutenant at Casula, Liverpool, and Cootamundra.

In mid-1916 the three Seabrook brothers successfully enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force. By this time George’s wife had died, leaving him a widower.

Posted to the 17th Battalion, they spent a period of training in Australia before leaving that October for active service overseas on the troopship Ascanius. They continued training in England, and were eventually sent to fight on the Western Front in France and Belgium.

All three proved able soldiers, and Keith’s previous military training stood him in good stead. In July 1917 he was commissioned and given command of 11 Platoon in the battalion’s C Company.

On 20 September 1917 the Seabrook brothers participated in a major operation when the 17th Battalion attacked the German positions in front of the village of Westhoek in the battle of Menin Road. Advancing more than a kilometre, the battalion’s attack was successful.

But the day would prove devastating for the Seabrook family.

With a final handshake for his batman, Lieutenant Keith Seabrook led the men of his platoon into the front line positions. While walking in single file along the duckboards they were hit by a phosphorous bomb that killed or wounded the full section of the platoon he was leading.

Keith Seabrook suffered severe wounds from the blast, and although he made it to a casualty clearing station the popular young officer died of his wounds the following day.

In the breast pocket of his tunic was found a photograph of his mother containing a single bullet hole. He was 21 years old.

As their younger brother was being stretchered from the battlefield, Privates George and Theo Seabrook were with the battalion as it launched its attack. Shortly afterwards both were hit by the same artillery shell and killed instantly. Their bodies were never found. Their names are on the Menin Gate along with more than 6,000 other Australians dead and missing in Flanders. George was 25 years old, Theo a year younger.

Mrs Seabrook chose the epitaph for her son Keith’s headstone in the Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery:

A WILLING SACRIFICE FOR THE WORLD’S PEACE

One family, three sons – all dead in a single day.

Australia sustained 5,013 casualties in that battle of the Menin Road.

The devastating impact on the Seabrook family of the loss of their sons is beyond our comprehension.

Mrs Seabrook desperately wrote to the military authorities on 27 November 1917, in the knowledge of Keith’s death but seeking information about Theo and George:

…. it is all very confusing to our minds and if you could explain to me we would be much obliged and thankful. The blow of losing our three sons in one battle is terrible. We are heartbroken.

She later wrote to her member of parliament:

Having given our three boys as a sacrifice to the country … their loss I will never recover and now my husband is a complete wreck … I have put my property up for sale as it seems there is no other way. Mr Seabrook has been raving about our three boys and has delusions of all kinds. Please pardon me for telling you all these things, but I have no one to confide in.

Their names are listed on the Roll of Honour on my right, among more than 60,000 Australians who died while serving in the First World War. Their photo is displayed today beside the Pool of Reflection. From left to right is Theo, William and George.

This is but one of the many stories of service and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We remember and honour these three young Australians who gave their lives for us, our freedoms and in the hope of a better world