The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (6276) Private William John Armstrong, 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 Richard Cruise, the story for this day was on (6276) Private William John Armstrong, 24th Battalion, First World War.

6276 Private William John Armstrong, 24th Battalion
KIA 31 August 1918
Photograph: P05248.003

Story delivered 14 April 2014

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private William John Armstrong of the 24th Battalion, who was killed in action in France in the First World War.

William Armstrong was born in 1893, one of three children of Donald and Miriam Armstrong of Mansfield in Victoria. After his schooling in Mansfield, Armstrong trained as a school teacher and taught at Preston State School and others in the Wangaratta district in the years before the war. He enlisted in the AIF at Castlemaine in October 1916, and underwent a period of training at Royal Park in Melbourne with reinforcements to the 23rd Battalion. He left Australia in November, headed for the training camps in England.

Armstrong did not arrive in France until November 1917, whereupon he was transferred to the 24th Battalion to reinforce losses the battalion had suffered during the Third Ypres campaign. Though Armstrong arrived too late to fight at Passchendaele, he was with the battalion when it blunted the German advance towards the vital rail junction at Hazebrouck during the German Spring Offensive in April 1918. With the tide turned in the allies' favour they, too, were on the offensive, and Armstrong took part in the fighting at Hamel and at Amiens in July and August, helping to push the German army back towards the Hindenburg Line.

On 31 August 1918, as the 24th Battalion prepared to take part in the 2nd Division's assault on Mont St Quentin, German artillery bombarded the Australian positions, causing a number of casualties. A chance shell landed in the 24th Battalion trenches near the village of Clery, killing approximately ten men. Among those killed was Private William Armstrong, who was just 24 years old when he died. He was buried with his comrades in a communal grave inside the trench, and after the war was reinterred at Péronne Communal Cemetery Extension in France. A small notice of his death appeared in the Wangaratta Chronicle describing him as "a fine young fellow, [who] had many friends in the district".

William Armstrong is listed on the Roll of Honour on my right, along with more than 60,000 others from the First World War. His photograph is displayed today beside the Pool of Reflection.

This is one of the many stories of courage and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Private William John Armstrong, and all of those Australians who have given their lives in service of our nation.