| Accession Number | PAFU/854.01 |
|---|---|
| Collection type | Film |
| Object type | Last Post film |
| Physical description | 16:9 |
| Maker |
Australian War Memorial |
| Place made | Australia: Australian Capital Territory, Canberra, Campbell |
| Date made | 22 June 2013 |
| Access | Open |
| Conflict |
First World War, 1914-1918 |
| Copyright |
Item copyright: © Australian War Memorial
This item is licensed under CC BY-NC
|
| Copying Provisions | Copyright restrictions apply. Only personal, non-commercial, research and study use permitted. Permission of copyright holder required for any commercial use and/or reproduction. |
The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (7537) Private James Archibald Peoples, 5th Battalion (Infantry), First World War
Description
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 Ryan Wilson the story for this day was on (7537) Private James Archibald Peoples, 5th Battalion (Infantry), First World War.
Speech transcript
7537 Private James Archibald Peoples, 5th Battalion
KIA 25 April 1918
Photograph: DA17254
Story delivered 22 June 2013
Today, we remember and pay tribute to Private James Archibald Peoples.
Jim Peoples was born in Dimboola, Victoria, the son of Barnard and Flora Peoples. He had some experience with the Citizens Light Horse Brigade and was keen to enlist in the Australian Imperial Force to fight in the Great War. However, he had a serious scar left over from abdominal surgery which had caused him to be turned down. He tried to enlist a remarkable 21 times before he managed to overcome medical objections to his service, and joined the army in May 1917.
Peoples was posted to the 5th Battalion and sent to Britain. He eventually arrived on the Western Front in March 1918. He quickly formed a close group of "cobbers", including Charles Pike, Dave Byrne, and Vic Williamson. They had agreed to write to each other's families and loved ones in the event one of them died.
Six weeks after he first arrived in the trenches, Jim Peoples was on duty with a fatigue party carrying rations to the front line. On the last trip of the night, in the early hours of the morning of 25 April 1918, a shell landed in the middle of the party killing Peoples.
It fell to Charles Pike to write to Peoples' sweetheart, Evelyn Holland, in Australia. He had been one of the men to put Jim onto a stretcher and carry him away, and he wrote:
I can tell you I didn't get over it for a while. There are no words that we can find adequate to tell you of the sorrow we feel. We can only say that Jim was well loved by all of us as being a fine, cheerful, generous, athletic, all round fine chap and we all would have done anything for him, as we know he would have done for us ... I can't say any more, only that you know that Jim died as game as the best of them, and that had he lived he would have done some conspicuous service for his country.
Jim Peoples was just 23 years old.
His name is listed on the Roll of Honour on your left, along with around 60,000 others from 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 James Archibald Peoples, and all of those Australians who have given their lives in service of our nation.