The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (2747) Private John James Hindley, 4th Company Australian Machine Gun Corps, 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 (2747) Private John James Hindley, 4th Company Australian Machine Gun Corps, First World War.

2747 Private John James Hindley, 4th Machine Gun Company
DOW 6 May 1917

No photograph in collection

Today, we remember and pay tribute to Private John James Hindley of the 4th Machine Gun Company, who died on 6 May 1917 during the First World War.

John Hindley worked as a driver at an iron foundry in Bendigo, Victoria, before enlisting in the AIF in Melbourne in July 1915. He served very briefly on Gallipoli with the 14th Battalion before he was evacuated with influenza. After a period of recovery on Mudros, he rejoined the battalion in Egypt, where they spent several months training and preparing for trench warfare on the Western Front.

Hindley was transferred to the 4th Machine Gun Company and left Egypt for the fighting in France with the rest of the 4th Division in June 1916. There they took part in the fighting on the Somme at Pozières and Mouquet Farm, as well as the infamous Somme winter in the trenches at Gueudecourt. Hindley was one of the few members of his unit not to be wounded or become sick. The Australians followed the Germans as they withdrew from the Somme to take up positions along their formidable Hindenburg Line defences.

But John Hindley's luck soon ran out when he was wounded and taken prisoner at Bullecourt on 11 April 1917. He was one of 1,170 Australians in the largest capture of Australian troops in a single engagement during the First World War. Suffering from bullet wounds to his left arm and leg, he was taken to a German field hospital where he was treated by German surgeons. Hindley was transferred to the prisoner of war camp at Dulmen in Germany, where he succumbed to his wounds on 6 May 1917. Today, he is buried at the Cologne Southern Cemetery in Germany.

Mourned not just by his family, John Hindley was described by his friends as always having a "bright and cheerful disposition". He was said to be "a general favourite with his comrades", of "splendid physique and a fine athlete", having for several years run in sprinting races for the Bendigo Fire Brigade. When his workmates heard of his death, the flag at the Bendigo Fire Station was flown at half-mast as a sign of respect.

John Hindley is listed on the Roll of Honour on my right, along with more than 60,000 others from the First World War. His is but one of the many stories of courage and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Private John James Hindley, and all of those Australians who have given their lives in the service of our nation.