The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (395) Lance Sergeant Frank Henderson Paul, 21st 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 (395) Lance Sergeant Frank Henderson Paul, 21st Battalion (Infantry), First World War.

395 Lance Sergeant Frank Henderson Paul, 1st Australian Light Horse
KIA 22 May 1915
No photograph in collection

Story delivered 7 September 2013

Today, we remember and pay tribute to Lance Sergeant Frank Henderson Paul.

Frank Paul was born in North Sydney, the son of William Henry and Frances Paul. He worked as a stereo- and electro-typer in the printing industry. At the same time he was a serving member of the 9th Light Horse in the citizens' forces, and within weeks of the outbreak of war in 1914 he left his job and enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force.

Paul was posted to the 1st Australian Light Horse in keeping with his previous military experience, and quickly received a series of promotions to lance sergeant. During his period of training he made fast friends with a group of fellow soldiers who later recalled "many happy outings" spent with him.

The 1st Light Horse Regiment was sent to Egypt with the rest of the AIF, but they were originally considered unsuitable for the Gallipoli campaign. Eventually, however, it was decided to deploy them without their horses in order to reinforce the infantry. The 1st Light Horse duly landed on the Gallipoli peninsula on the afternoon of the 12th of May 1915.

The following day they took over trenches near Pope's Hill, about 50 to 150 yards from the Turkish trenches. While involved in minor skirmishes, their operations were mostly defensive, and they were under regular heavy fire from the Turks. On 21 May they were finally relieved, and withdrew to a bivouac in Monash Valley. The following day they were involved in working parties both day and night. Those working parties were still under occasional fire, and on 22 May the war diary of the 1st Light Horse recorded two men wounded and one man killed while in the valley. That man was Lance Sergeant Frank Paul.

Paul was buried in Shrapnel Valley Cemetery, near where he was killed. His mates from the camp commemorated him with a notice in the paper, noting, "He died a soldier and a man." Frank Paul was 31 years old.

His name is 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 Lance Sergeant Frank Henderson Paul, and all those Australians who have given their lives in the service of our nation.