The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (3035) Private Robert John Flack, 7th 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 Craig Berelle, the story for this day was on (3035) Private Robert John Flack, 7th Battalion, AIF, First World War.

3035 Private Robert John Flack, 7th Battalion, AIF
KIA 17 August 1916
No photograph in collection

Story delivered 9 September 2014

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private Robert John Flack.

John Flack was one of 12 children born to John and Mary Flack of Bendigo, Victoria. Little is known of his early life except that he went to the Roman Catholic School in Bendigo. His mother died in 1912, after John became a labourer working on local farms around Bendigo.

Flack enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in July 1915 at the age of 23. He underwent a period of training in Australia before leaving for service overseas with the 10th reinforcements to the 7th Battalion in late September 1915. Private Flack arrived in Egypt in January 1916 and was later sent to France for service on the Western Front.

On 28 June 1916 Flack wrote to his sister Amelia to say that he was in the best of health and was expecting to be in the trenches soon. Just under a month later his battalion was in close reserve for the attack that captured the French village of Pozières, and moved in to help consolidate the ground taken shortly afterwards.

A few weeks later the 7th Battalion was back in the line at Pozières preparing to participate in an attack on two strong German trenches near the village. As a part of that operation, the battalion had to ensure that the ground was prepared for the assault, including digging a new trench in no man’s land from which attacking units could begin their operation. This took a number of days.

On the night of 17 August Private Flack was digging this new trench in no man’s land near the German lines. His working party was under heavy shell-fire. At some point during the night the part of the trench Flack was working on was hit, and he was killed.

Private Flack’s commanding officers wrote home to his father to relay the details of his death. They wrote: “Your son was always a good steady worker doing whatever he was called to do cheerfully and well. He is much missed by his comrades by whom he was well thought of. [We are] trusting that the knowledge that your son met his death courageously doing his duty under the most trying circumstances will be a source of comfort to you all in your time of sorrow.” Robert Flack was 24 years old. He had been in the AIF for just over a year.

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 Private Robert John Flack, and all of those Australians who have given their lives in the service of our nation.