The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (744) Lance Corporal Percy Harold Baulderstone, 12th Battalion (Infantry), First World War

The Last Post Ceremony is presented in the Commemorative area of the Australian War Memorial each 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. The story for this day was on (744) Lance Corporal Percy Harold Baulderstone, 12th Battalion (Infantry), First World War.

Note: There is no recording for this event

744 Lance Corporal Percy Harold Baulderstone, 12th Battalion
DOW 2 July 1915
No photograph in collection

Story delivered 21 July 2013

Today, we remember and pay tribute to Private Percy Harold Baulderstone.

Percy Baulderstone was born at Port Broughton, South Australia, to Emily and Thomas Baulderstone in 1889. He was brought up in Fullarton, a suburb of Adelaide, where he worked as a bricklayer and was an active sportsman. He played football at a senior level for the Sturt Football Club, and was an oarsman for the Mercantile Rowing Club. He was very popular with his friends and acquaintances.

Shortly after the outbreak of the First World War, Baulderstone enlisted in Morphettville. He was quickly promoted to lance corporal in the 12th Battalion. After a period of training, word came that the battalion was to leave Australia. A number of members of the rowing club made the trip out to the Morphettville Camp to bid farewell to Baulderstone and another rowing club member, Bruce Oliver. They were each presented with an inscribed pocketbook and were feted for their fine qualities by their friends.

After a period of further training in Egypt, Baulderstone was sent to Gallipoli to fight the Turks. The 12th Battalion landed at 4 am on the 25th of April. The men of the battalion had been distributed among the other battalions of the brigade, rather than staying as a discrete unit, which took some reorganisation once they landed. A large number of casualties were suffered before and during the landing, but Baulderstone was not one of them.

He was with the battalion as it consolidated its lines and settled in. By June the battalion was again working on the lines and creating new posts. At this time Baulderstone was wounded in the left leg. The date and manner of his wounding are not recorded, but the 12th Battalion war diary records that it was taking a small number of casualties, usually as a result of the occasional artillery exchange.

Baulderstone was evacuated to the hospital ship Silicia for treatment and transfer to hospital. On 2 July 1915 he died on board the ship, succumbing to gangrene in his wounded leg. He was buried at sea.

Baulderstone was the second South Australian footballer to be killed in the war, and was mourned by his parents and three sisters, as well as his wide circle of friends.

His name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my right, along with more than 60,000 others from the First World War, and his photograph is displayed today by 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 Percy Harold Baulderstone, and all those Australians who have given their lives in the service of our nation.