The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of Lieutenant Wilfred Vivian Hubert Luther Bidstrup, 50th 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 Blanch, the story for this day was on Lieutenant Wilfred Vivian Hubert Luther Bidstrup, 50th Battalion, First World War.

Lieutenant Wilfred Vivian Hubert Luther Bidstrup, 50th Battalion
KIA 3 April 1917
Photograph: P09291.125

Story delivered 17 March 2014

Today we remember and pay tribute to Lieutenant Wilfred Vivian Hubert Luther Bidstrup.

Wilfred Bidstrup was an accountant in Adelaide when he enlisted in the first AIF in May 1915. He initially went into the Army Medical Corps, but later transferred to the infantry, where he excelled.

Following his graduation from Duntroon and his commission, Bidstrup went to England with the 2nd reinforcements to the 43rd Battalion. Rather than continue to train with his men on Salisbury Plain, however, he was almost immediately sent to France because of an urgent need for officers at the front. He was appointed to the 50th Battalion and in February 1917 was promoted to lieutenant.

In April 1917 the 50th Battalion was ordered to capture the village of Noreuil. During the attack Bidstrup went missing. He had been in charge of the battalion bombers and assigned the task of mopping up the village immediately after the front wave of the attack had passed through. This was dangerous work because it involved finding German troops hiding in cellars or dugouts in the village, waiting to emerge from behind the advance and attack from the rear.

The task proved deadly for Lieutenant Bidstrup. A party sent to search for him found his body on the battlefield riddled with bullets. He had been caught by a German machine-gun.

Bidstrup was described as "a fine type of young Australian officer - clever, alert, resourceful, and energetic". In his last letter home before leaving for France he told his mother that he had taken the motto "death before dishonour" and intended to live by it during battle. It seems it was his motto to the last. His body was found surrounded by dead Germans and with an empty revolver in its hand.

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 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 Lieutenant Wilfred Vivian Hubert Luther Bidstrup, and all of those Australians who have given their lives in service of our nation.