The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (1790) Private Stanley Hector Bailey, 37th 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 (1790) Private Stanley Hector Bailey, 37th Battalion, First World War.

1790 Private Stanley Hector Bailey, 37th Battalion
DOW 29 January 1917
No photograph in collection

Story delivered 3 May 2014

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private Stanley Hector Bailey, who died of wounds in the First World War.

Stanley Bailey was born in 1890, one of six children of William and Catherine Bailey of Corryong in Victoria. After attending school at nearby Colac Colac, Stanley worked as a farmer in the Upper Murray district. He enlisted in the AIF at Tallangatta in Victoria in April 1916 and underwent training at Seymour Camp. He left Australia in August that year, bound for the training camps in England with the reinforcements to the newly raised 37th Battalion.

The 37th Battalion arrived in France in November 1916, where it spent the following winter in the relatively quiet Houplines sector near Armentières. Here, the battalion patrolled no man's land and was involved in conducting trench raids on the German positions. These were done to harass the enemy and identify German units for the purposes of intelligence, as well as to maintain morale among the Australian troops.

On the night of 28 January 1917 troops from the 10th Brigade raided the German trenches opposite the hamlet of Port Ballot. Among them were 200 men of the 37th Battalion, who found that the artillery had failed to cut the thick belts of barbed wire in front of the enemy positions. German troops opened fire with machine-guns, inflicting a devastating toll on the raiding party and forcing it to retire. Among the casualties was Private Stanley Bailey, who was severely wounded in the left shoulder. He was evacuated to a nearby dressing station where he died early the following morning. Private Bailey was buried at the nearby Cite Bonjean Military Cemetery at Armentières, where he rests today.

Stanley Bailey 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 Memorial's collection to display 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 Stanley Hector Bailey, and all of those Australians who have given their lives in service of our nation.