The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (1864) Lance Corporal Robert Walton Frederick Otter 1st Battalion, AIF, 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 Meredith Duncan, the story for this day was on (1864) Lance Corporal Robert Walton Frederick Otter 1st Battalion, AIF, First World War.

1864 Lance Corporal Robert Walton Frederick Otter 1st Battalion, AIF
DOW 11 November 1916
No photograph in collection

Story delivered 1 July 2014

Today we remember and pay tribute to Lance Corporal Robert Walton Frederick Otter.

Robert Otter was born in Paddington, New South Wales, in 1897 to George and Bridget Otter. After a brief illness his father passed away in 1902, leaving his mother to raise him and his siblings. She remarried in 1909. Otter grew up in Woollhara and attended Woollhara Public School, where he was dux of his class in 1908 and 1909. During his latter school years, he joined the Royal Australian Naval Reserve.

After the outbreak of the First World War Otter enlisted for service in the Australian Imperial Force in January 1915, aged 18 and 11 months. He was allotted to the 4th reinforcements to the 1st Battalion and after a period of training embarked from Sydney aboard the transport ship Argyllshire in April 1915.

After a brief time in Egypt he was transported to Gallipoli, where he joined his unit in late May. He took part in the heavy fighting to capture Lone Pine in August and he remained on the Gallipoli peninsula until December, when the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force began its withdrawal.

Back in Egypt he went absent without leave in order to spend a morning sightseeing. This earned him seven days confined to barracks, but was not held against him as in February he was sent to a command school of instruction at Zeitoun and the following month was promoted to lance corporal.

In late March the 1st Battalion was transported to France, arriving at Marseilles before month’s end. The men were immediately transported by train to the “nursery sector” around Armentières, where the men became acquainted with warfare on the Western Front.

Otter went into action with the 1st Battalion at Pozières where, as a runner in battalion headquarters, he survived the maelstrom of artillery, rifle, and machine-gun fire in carrying out his duties.

Following the battle, the battalion was sent north to the quiet Ypres sector. In late September Otter was granted leave and went to Scotland. He returned to his unit the following month and later the battalion once again entrained for the Somme; the men were back in the front lines near Flers by October’s end.

As the 1st Battalion was being relieved from the front line to go into support trenches on 1 November its positions were shelled by the Germans. Otter was severely wounded and taken to the 2nd Australian Field Ambulance dressing station, where he died shortly after arriving. He was laid to rest in the Bernafay Wood British Cemetery.

His 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 Memorial’s 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 Lance Corporal Robert Walton Frederick Otter, and all of those Australians who have given their lives in service of our nation.