The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (3778) Gunner Stanley Stuart Sinclair, 3rd AFA Brigade Australian Field Artillery, First World War

Accession Number PAFU2013/032.01
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 5 September 2013
Access Open
Conflict First World War, 1914-1918
Copyright Item copyright: © Australian War Memorial
Creative Commons License 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.
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 Meredith Duncan, the story for this day was on (3778) Gunner Stanley Stuart Sinclair, 3rd AFA Brigade Australian Field Artillery, First World War.


**Due to technical issues this recording is of poor quality and not for public display.**

Speech transcript

3778 Gunner Stanley Stuart Sinclair, 3rd Brigade AFA
KIA 8 August 1918
No photograph in collection

Story delivered 5 September 2013

Today, we remember and pay tribute to Gunner Stanley Stuart Sinclair.

Stanley Sinclair was born in Heywood, Victoria, but he was working as a stockman and station hand in Western Australia at the outbreak of the First World War. In November 1914 he enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force and was appointed to reinforcements for the 3rd Field Artillery Brigade.

Sinclair left Australia in February 1915. However, his service record makes no mention of what happened to him between then and when he transferred to the 8th Battery of the Australian Field Artillery Brigade in February the following year. A few months later he spent some time in hospital in France before rejoining the 8th Battery on the Western Front.

Sinclair was wounded a number of times during his service. In February 1917 he was hospitalised overnight with shell shock, and the following June he had to be evacuated to England with a severe gunshot wound to his upper leg. Two months later he rejoined his unit, but was again evacuated in mid-1918 after being gassed.

In early August 1918 Sinclair was serving with the 3rd Brigade of the Australian Field Artillery, which was providing support to a joint Australian and Canadian operation at Amiens. This battle was an unprecedented success, and resulted in the gain of miles of territory. The German general Erich Ludendorff called it "the black day of the German Army".

Despite the overall success of the operation, many men lost their lives in the battle; one of these was Gunner Stanley Sinclair. On the morning of the 8th of August 1918 he was working a gun with Bombardier Frank Ansell. A German artillery shell struck the tail of the gun they were working, killing both men and wounding another six.

Men of the 8th Brigade Artillery helped to carry the two bodies to a nearby cemetery, where they were buried side by side. After the war they were reinterred in Adelaide British Cemetery, Villers-Bretonneux, where they rest side by side today.

The names of Stanley Stuart Sinclair and Frank Atkinson Ansell are listed on the Roll of Honour on my right, along with more than 60,000 others from the First World War.

This is but one of the many stories of courage and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Gunner Stanley Stuart Sinclair, and all those Australians who have given their lives in the service of our nation.