The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (2254) Private Charles Edgar Tidmarsh, 48th 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 Richard Cruise, the story for this day was on (2254) Private Charles Edgar Tidmarsh, 48th Battalion, AIF, First World War.

2254 Private Charles Edgar Tidmarsh 48th Battalion, AIF
KIA 8 August 1918
Photograph: P11494.001

Story delivered 13 September 2014

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private Charles Edgar Tidmarsh.

Charles Edgar Tidmarsh was born on 19 October 1890 at Surrey Farm in Golden Grove, South Australia, to George Henry and Ruth Dennison Tidmarsh. He grew up on the farm and attended the local primary school. After his father’s untimely death, his mother moved to Angle Vale with Charles and his two sisters. He attended Modbury High School and on leaving school became a farmer.

Tidmarsh enlisted for service in the AIF in Adelaide on 9 May 1916. After his initial training with the 2nd Depot Battalion at Mitcham he was assigned to the 4th reinforcements to the 48th Battalion. He embarked with his unit aboard the transport ship Ballarat on 12 August 1916.

In England he was sent to a training camp at Codford, where he trained for operations on the Western Front. In late November he was sent to France and joined the 48th Battalion.

When he arrived at the battalion he became, at six-foot-four-inches, the tallest man in the battalion. With the battalion’s commander, Lieutenant Colonel Ray Leane, also standing over six foot (and nicknamed “The Bull”), Tidmarsh’s arrival no doubt caused some good-natured banter among the men. Due to his imposing height and physique, Tidmarsh was made the no. 1 on a Lewis gun.

He served through much of the terrible winter of 1916–17 and saw front-line service on several occasions. In February 1917 the battalion was in the Flers area when Tidmarsh was evacuated to England with a severe case of trench foot.

It wasn’t until December that he rejoined his battalion, at that point resting near Péronne, France, after the fighting around Ypres. Tidmarsh saw his first major action when the Germans launched their Spring Offensive. The 48th Battalion was heavily involved in stopping the Germans from breaking through to Amiens.

Early on 8 August, as part of the battle of Amiens, the 48th attacked towards Proyart. During that morning Tidmarsh, as a Lewis gunner, was targeted by a German sniper and killed. He was 28.

Tidmarsh was buried near the 48th Battalion Regimental Aid Post along with several other members of the battalion, but his grave was unable to be relocated after the war. His name was added to the names of the missing on the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial in the late 1920s.

Tidmarsh’s name is also 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 Charles Edgar Tidmarsh, and all of those Australians who have given their lives in service of our nation.