The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of Lieutenant Colonel Edgar Leslie Cecil Willis Walker Maygar VC DSO, 8th Light Horse Regiment, 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 Sharon Bown, the story for this day was on Lieutenant Colonel Edgar Leslie Cecil Willis Walker Maygar VC DSO, 8th Light Horse Regiment, AIF, First World War.

Lieutenant Colonel Edgar Leslie Cecil Willis Walker Maygar VC DSO, 8th Light Horse Regiment, AIF
DOW 1 November 1917

Today we remember and pay tribute to Lieutenant Edgar Maygar VC DSO.

Edgar Maygar was born on 27 May 1868 at Dean Station near Kilmore in Victoria. Known as “Leslie”, he was educated at Kilmore and Alexandra state schools and, afterwards, became a partner on the family property at Strathearn Estate in Euroa.

Keenly interested in horses and cavalry, Maygar joined the Victorian Mounted Rifles in March 1891. He tried to enlist for active service in South Africa, but was initially kept at home by a decayed tooth.

Maygar was eventually accepted into the 5th Contingent, arriving in South Africa with his unit in February 1901. After joining a British column operating in Eastern Transvaal, he participated in various actions throughout May and June and, in August, transferred with the regiment to Nataal to assist in operations against Boer commandos.

During an engagement at Geelhoutboom on 23 November, Maygar saw a group of men at risk of being outflanked and rode out to order them to retire. When one of the men’s horses was shot from beneath him, Maygar gave him his own horse so he could gallop for cover while Maygar made his way back on foot. For his actions that day Maygar was awarded the Victoria Cross.

Back in Australia Maygar carried his commission into the 8th Light Horse Regiment and made captain in the 16th (Indi) Light Horse Regiment in July 1912. He enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force as soon as the First World War broke out in 1914, lowering his age by four years in order to do so.

He formed part of the advance party that established the light horse camp at Broadmeadows, and was made captain and posted as the commanding officer of B Squadron, 4th Light Horse Regiment.

Sailing for Egypt in October 1914, Maygar took part in the fighting on Gallipoli the following year and was promoted to temporary lieutenant colonel and given command of the 8th Light Horse Regiment in October.

Maygar was in command of the last party to withdraw from the trenches at Anzac Cove and deemed the evacuation “a marvellous piece of military strategy probably never equalled in all the annals of history”.

Maygar continued to command the 8th Light Horse Regiment in its campaign against the Ottoman Turks in Sinai and Palestine. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Order in June 1917 for his leadership during attacks at Magdhaba and Rafa, and was twice Mentioned in Despatches.

On 31 October 1917, Australian Light Horse units took part in the famous charge on Ottoman positions at Beersheba, Palestine. That evening Maygar received orders to retire his men to divisional headquarters. He had just returned to his column to do so when a German aircraft strafed them with machine-guns and bombs.

Maygar was hit; his arm was shattered and his horse bolted, carrying him into the darkness. He was later found, but had lost so much blood that he died in hospital the following morning. He was buried in the Beersheba War Cemetery.

Edgar Maygar was revered by his men as a popular and capable commander. According to official historian Henry Gullett: “He had in every crisis stirred the spirit of his regiment by his example in the firing line. He was a true fighting commander.”


His name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my right, among almost 62,000 Australians who died while serving in the First World War.
This is but one of the many stories of service and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Lieutenant Colonel Edgar Maygar VC DSO, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Aaron Pegram
Historian, Military History Program