The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (20021) Gunner Frederick Henry Youlden, 8th Brigade Australian Field Artillery, 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 Troy Clayton, the story for this day was on (20021) Gunner Frederick Henry Youlden, 8th Brigade Australian Field Artillery, First World War.

20021 Gunner Frederick Henry Youlden, 8th Brigade Australian Field Artillery
DOW 7 October 1917
No photograph in the collection

Story delivered 31 October 2014

Today we remember and pay tribute to Gunner Frederick Henry Youlden.

Fred Youlden was the son of Joseph and Millie Youlden. Born in Bendigo in 1887, he grew up in Ballarat, where he attended the Humphry Street State School. Youlden became a Baptist Missionary to the Lake Charm and Kerang region of Victoria, and eventually took up farming. He had been farming for about two years when he made the decision to enlist in the Australian Imperial Force.

Youlden enlisted in January 1916, and shortly afterwards married Gertrude Peters. As he left for camp in Melbourne, the local community gave him and two others a send-off in the Lake Charm Hall. All three were going into the artillery. The new recruits were congratulated on the sacrifice they were making “in breaking up their homes in order to be free to fight for freedom of those homes”.

In March 1916, before leaving Australia with the 8th Field Artillery Brigade, Youlden spoke at a patriotic service in the St Kilda Baptist Church about how much the idea of “fighting for freedom” was behind his reasons for enlisting. In this speech he said:

If Germany won this war it would mean the enslavements of the free nations of the world. There was an urgent call in Australia for men today, not only to fight, but to stand against the forces that would destroy us morally and take away our liberty.

Gunner Youlden arrived in France at the very end of 1916. In June of that year he was shot in the wrist while the 8th Brigade was in action supporting a 3rd Australian Brigade attack on the La Douve and Avenue farms in Belgium.

Although usually far behind the front line, artillery batteries were a constant target for German fire. Youlden’s wound on this occasion was fairly superficial, and he was able to return to his battery shortly after receiving treatment.

In October 1917 the 8th Field Artillery Brigade was in action between Zillebeke and Passchendaele. Youlden’s battery came under German artillery fire and during the course of the bombardment he was hit in the chest with a large splinter of shell. Although “very much collapsed as the result of his wound”, Youlden could not get to hospital for some days, and it was found that his wound had gone septic. The medical officer at the hospital wrote:

I should like to let his people know … how very bravely he bore his suffering. He was a splendid patient and endeared himself to all of us who were privileged to minister to him. We are all very sorry that our efforts were of no avail.

His name is 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 Gunner Frederick Henry Youlden, and all of those Australians who have given their lives in the service of our nation.