The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (5459) Corporal Harry Thorpe MM, 7th Battalion Australian Army, First World War

Place Europe: France
Accession Number PAFU2014/231.01
Collection type Film
Object type Last Post film
Physical description 16:9
Maker Australian War Memorial
Place made Australia: Australian Capital Territory, Canberra, Campbell
Date made 9 July 2014
Access Open
Conflict First World War, 1914-1918
Copyright Item copyright: © Australian War Memorial
Creative Commons License This item is licensed under CC BY-NC
Copying Provisions Copyright restrictions apply. Only personal, non-commercial, research and study use permitted. Permission of copyright holder required for any commercial use and/or reproduction.
Description

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 Robyn Siers, the story for this day was on (5459) Corporal Harry Thorpe MM, 7th Battalion Australian Army, First World War.

Film order form
Speech transcript

5459 Corporal Harry Thorpe MM, 7th Battalion Australian Army
DOW 9 August 1918
Photograph: P01695.002

Story delivered 9 July 2014

Today we remember and pay tribute to Corporal Harry Thorpe of the Australian Army. In honour of the great tradition of Indigenous military service to Australia, we tell his story.

Harry Thorpe was born at the Lake Tyers Mission Station, near Lakes Entrance in Victoria, to William Thorpe, a Brabuwooloong man, and his wife, Lilian. He was married and working as a labourer when war broke out in 1914. Although Indigenous men were officially prohibited from enlisting in the Australian Imperial Force, Thorpe successfully enlisted in February 1916, aged 29.

Harry left Australia with the 7th Battalion in April 1916. After a brief period of training in Egypt, he was sent to fight in France. The 7th Battalion was engaged in the battle of Pozières and the subsequent fighting around Mouquet Farm. The battalion was exposed to some of the heaviest artillery fire seen on the Western Front, and in early August Thorpe was wounded and evacuated with shell shock and a gunshot wound to his leg.

In early 1917 Thorpe was promoted to lance corporal, and in May the 7th Battalion went into action around the French village of Bullecourt. Here Thorpe was wounded for the second time when he was shot in the shoulder.

After another period in hospital, Lance Corporal Thorpe once again rejoined his unit. In battle he proved an able leader, and in October 1917 he was awarded the Military Medal for “handling his men with skill and materially assisting his company commander” in the dangerous job of seeking out German infantry hiding in dug-outs and pill boxes. His medal citation notes that “by his splendid example and disregard of all danger” Thorpe “inspired those under him”. He was subsequently promoted to corporal.

In August 1918 the 7th Battalion conducted an operation against the enemy at Lihons Wood in France, where Thorpe was shot in the abdomen. Wounded for the third and final time, he died hours after arriving at the dressing station.

Harry Thorpe left a wife, Julie, and one son, Reginald. He was buried in France alongside his friend and fellow Indigenous soldier Private William Rawlings, who was killed on the same day.

Corporal Harry Thorpe 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 one of the many stories of courage and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Corporal Harry Thorpe and all of those Australians who have given their lives in service of our nation.

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