The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (4452) Private Leonard Frank Lamb, 24th Battalion, 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. Hosted by Craig Berelle, the story for this day was on (4452) Private Leonard Frank Lamb, 24th Battalion, First World War.

4452 Private Leonard Frank Lamb, 24th Battalion
KIA 4 October 1917
No photograph in collection

Story delivered 1 March 2014

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private Leonard Frank Lamb.

Leonard Lamb was born in York, Western Australia, but later moved to Victoria. At the outbreak of the First World War he was working as a chemist in Dandenong while his mother and sisters lived in Echuca. He enlisted in December 1915 and was posted to the 24th Battalion. After a period of training, he left Australia and was sent to fight on the Western Front in France.

Lamb's health suffered while he was in France and he spent time in hospital with, among other things, the mumps and a badly ulcerated mouth. However, for the rest of his service he remained with the battalion.

In October 1917 the 24th Battalion was in Belgium. Lamb and three or four others were in a shell hole when an artillery shell landed in the midst of them. In the words of an eyewitness, Lamb was "blown to atoms" and no remains could be recovered of him or his companions. He is commemorated on the Memorial to the Missing at the Menin Gate, Ypres.

Lamb was known to be a "fine, genial, courteous young fellow, liked and respected by the whole community" where he lived and worked. Very little can be known of the particulars of his service because, like so many others serving in the First World War, he earned neither particular censure nor particular praise. Instead he served quietly and inconspicuously, and gave his life in service of his nation.

Leonard Lamb"s name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my right, along with more than 60,000 others from the First World War. There is no photograph in the collection to display 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 Leonard Frank Lamb, and all of those Australians who have given their lives in service of our nation.