The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (3350) Private David Charles Armstrong, 58th 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 Richard Cruise, the story for this day was on (3350) Private David Charles Armstrong, 58th Battalion, First World War.

3350 Private David Charles Armstrong, 58th Battalion
KIA 8 March 1918
Photograph: H05935

Story delivered 10 April 2014

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private David Charles Armstrong.

Dave Armstrong was the third son of David and Catherine Armstrong of Melbourne. He was born in St Arnaud and went to the state school in St Kilda. After school he gained employment as an iron worker at the Sunshine Implements Works, which manufactured farm equipment. At the outbreak of war his father, a skilled metal worker, responded to a call for men and went to England to work in munitions factories. Dave's older brothers, John and Stanley, enlisted for active service in the Australian Imperial Force in 1915 and 1916 respectively.

Dave had tried to enlist but had been turned down for having chest measurements that were too small for the enlisting standards at the time. He was finally successful in enlisting in June 1917, after the standards had been relaxed. He was 19 years old, and needed his mother's permission to apply. At the time of his enlistment his elder brother John had been reported missing, and Stanley was struggling with military discipline. Dave Armstrong was sent to England with the 9th reinforcements to the 58th Battalion in July 1917. He was finally sent to France to fight on the Western Front in January 1918.

One month after Dave left Australia it was confirmed that John had been killed in action at Fromelles on 19 July 1916. His mother wrote, "I feel it is terrible hard to think my Darling son has left us for ever so now I have to wait patiently to see if his Father and Two other Brothers will return Home to me." But only Stanley and his father returned.

On 8 March 1918 the 58th Battalion had been in the line near Messines for several days, and had repulsed a number of strong attacks. The action had quietened down, but the line still came under fire from German artillery and machine-guns. Sometime during the day, Private David Armstrong was killed in action. The exact manner of his death has not been recorded, but his final resting place is in the Messines Ridge British Cemetery.

For the epitaph on his headstone Dave's family struggled to choose between "he died the noblest death a man can die" and the simple phrase "so sadly missed". David Armstrong had not seen his twentieth birthday.

The names of David Armstrong and his brother John are listed on the Roll of Honour on my right, along with more than 60,000 others from the First World War. David's 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 Private David Charles Armstrong, and all of those Australians who have given their lives in the service of our nation.