The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (5540) Private William Blackadder, 26th 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 (5540) Private William Blackadder, 26th Battalion (Infantry), First World War.

5540 Private William Blackadder, 26th Battalion
KIA 26 March 1917
Photograph: H12726

Story delivered 4 June 2013

Today, we remember and pay tribute to Private William Blackadder.

William Blackadder emigrated from Scotland as a young man and settled in Queensland. He enlisted in the first AIF in April 1916 and underwent a period of training before leaving for the Western Front, arriving in France in December 1916. As a private in the 26th Battalion he participated in some small, set-piece operations and aggressive patrolling near the Hindenburg Line in the early months of 1917.

At this stage of the war, the German Army were withdrawing to this heavily fortified series of trenches, which offered much better protection than their defensive line around the River Somme. Multiple lines of trenches and deep dugouts were protected by heavy belts of barbed wire, outlying trenches and machine gun posts.

Some of the small villages near the Hindenburg Line had also been fortified, and towards the end of March 1917 the 26th Battalion was ordered to attack one of these, the village of Lagnicourt. Previous attempts against this village had failed.

For this operation the village was subjected to a preliminary artillery barrage which destroyed the wire emplacements around it. The infantry then advanced behind a line of bursting shells that protected them as they slowly advanced towards the target.

The attack began at 5.15 am on 26 March 1917. The assaulting troops on the flanks made good ground, but in the centre of the line a number of casualties inflicted by a German strong point in the village held up the advance. This was a machine gun nest with strong walls and a full detachment of troops inside. The strong point was surrounded by the troops coming from the flanks, and the defenders within were captured or killed.

Blackadder was almost certainly in the first wave of troops to leave the jumping-off trench in the centre of the line. He was hit by machine gun fire during the charge across no-man's land.

Little more is known of the death of William Blackadder in the confusion of the battlefield, but his body was later retrieved and he was 'buried with all honours and a cross erected over his grave'. The men in his company mourned the loss of a man well-liked by all, who always did his duty.

William Blackadder is listed on the Roll of Honour on your left, along with about 60,000 others who lost their lives in the First World War, and his photograph is displayed today 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 William Blackadder, and all of those Australians who have given their lives in the service of our nation.