The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (2262) Private Percy Tulk, 25th 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 (2262) Private Percy Tulk, 25th Battalion, First World War.

2262 Private Percy Tulk, 25th Battalion
KIA 20 September 1917
No photograph in collection

Story delivered 16 September 2014

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private Percy Tulk.
Percy Tulk was born in Wyrallah, New South Wales, the son of Levi and Louisa Tulk. He was working as a motor driver on the outbreak of the First World War, and enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in February 1916 at the age of 28. After enlisting he married Essie Laverty, but they spent very little time together before he left for overseas service in December 1916.

Tulk first saw combat on the Western Front in May 1917, when the 25th Battalion was involved in the fighting near the French villages of Bullecourt and Noreuil. Here Percy received gunshot wounds to the head and face from which he soon recovered, although they were serious enough for a week in hospital.

In September 1917 the 25th Battalion was in the front line on the Bellewaarde Ridge in Belgium. They conducted an operation against the German lines which, although smaller in scale, was successful in capturing three German machine-guns and approximately eighty German prisoners. In return, the 25th Battalion suffered over 180 casualties, including 32 deaths. One of those was Percy Tulk.

In Wyrallah Percy was commemorated on the Roll of Honour erected at the Wyrallah Public School. His other legacy was a son, Percy Alwyn Tulk, who was born in November 1916. Although he never met his father, the younger Percy Tulk followed in his footsteps by serving in the Second World War. Essie Tulk, after only a few months in the same country as her husband, and no more than a year of marriage overall, never remarried.

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 Percy Tulk, and all of those Australians who have given their lives in the service of our nation.