The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (6188) Private Gavin Gordon Bulkeley Gavin, 26th 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 Robyn Siers, the story for this day was on (6188) Private Gavin Gordon Bulkeley Gavin, 26th Battalion, First World War.

6188 Private Gavin Gordon Bulkeley Gavin, 26th Battalion
KIA 4 October 1917
Photograph: P03174.001 (or P03174.002 with his brother)

Story delivered 13 August 2014

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private Gavin Gordon Bulkeley Gavin, whose photograph is displayed today beside the Pool of Reflection.

Gavin Gavin was one of ten sons and two daughters born to John Alexander Gavin and his wife, Rose. Gavin attended Longreach State School and Longreach Presentation Covenant School in Queensland, and then went on to become a grazier and station overseer. He was a tall man of slim build. He enlisted in late September 1916, about five months after his brother James Tinnock Bulkeley Gavin had enlisted. His training in Australia seems to have been hurried so that he could leave with James, because just under one month after his enlistment they were sent to England together with the 17th reinforcements to the 26th Battalion on HMAT Marathon.

Gavin and James arrived in France to join the 26th Battalion in May 1917. Soon afterwards their battalion was sent to Belgium to participate in fighting around Ypres and Passchendaele. On 4 October 1917 the battalion fought in the battle of Broodseinde Ridge. This operation was ultimately successful, and resulted in the capture of valuable German positions, but cost the Australian divisions that took part 6,500 in casualties. The Gavin brothers were among them.

As the 26th Battalion had moved forward ready for the signal to advance it came under German shell-fire. James was killed by shell fragments about 20 minutes before the battle began. Within a very short time, just after having gained the objective, Private Gavin Gavin was shot in the head and killed instantly.

The brothers were buried in the battlefield where they fell, but were lost in the confusion of ongoing fighting. After the war their father tried to locate their graves and provide his sons with a lasting memorial. He wrote to the Department of Defence, the Red Cross, and even his sons’ company commander, who provided him with map references and marked aerial photographs. Through the untiring efforts of John Gavin and the International Red Cross Society’s extensive investigations, the bodies of both Gavin brothers were found and exhumed. Gavin Gavin’s remains were found first, and were reinterred in Tyne Cot Cemetery. James Gavin’s remains were not found until 1921, and were reinterred in Ypres Reservoir North Cemetery.

John Gavin wanted his sons to be buried together. He wrote, “As my sons were never parted in life, left Australia together, died together, I would request specially that one headstone be made to act for both.” While it was ultimately not possible for them to share a headstone, Gavin Gavin’s body was taken from Tyne Cot Cemetery and buried as closely as possible to his brother’s grave in Ypres Reservoir Cemetery. Their headstones, just a few spaces apart, both read:

Lovely in their Lives
In death undivided
To awake to Eternal Glory

Gavin Gavin was 25 years old. James was 23.

The names of both Gavin brothers are listed on the Roll of Honour on my right, along with more than 60,000 others from the First World War.

This is but one of the many stories of courage and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Private Gavin Gordon Bulkeley Gavin, his brother Lance Corporal James Tinnock Bulkeley Gavin, and all of those Australians who have given their lives in the service of our nation.