The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (4573) Private John Joseph O’Callaghan, 6th 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 Gerard Pratt, the story for this day was on (4573) Private John Joseph O’Callaghan, 6th Battalion, AIF, First World War.

4573 Private John Joseph O’Callaghan, 6th Battalion, AIF
KIA 11 November 1916
Photograph: P09562.001

Story delivered 12 November 2014

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private John Joseph O’Callaghan, who was killed in France in the First World War.

John O’Callaghan was born in 1896 and was one of four children of John and Frances O’Callaghan of Kew in Melbourne. After attending the Christian Brothers School at Abbotsford, John trained as a joiner with James Moore & Sons timber merchants. He spent five years in the cadet corps, and was eager to offer up his services to the British Empire.

At the age of 19, with his parents’ consent, John enlisted in September 1915 and underwent several months’ training at Royal Park. He embarked for overseas service in January 1916 as part of the 14th reinforcements for the 6th Battalion.

John arrived in Egypt in March. Australian troops were preparing to redeploy to the Western Front, and the following months were spent training at Mena Camp near Cairo. John crossed the Mediterranean in June and joined the 6th Battalion in the trenches near Pozières in France. Here the battalion suffered heavy losses throughout July and August.

After Pozières, John was transferred to the battalion’s bombing platoon – a specialist unit trained in hand-grenade tactics for use during trench raids. In late September the battalion briefly served in the sector south of Ypres along the Ypres–Comines Canal, during which time the bombing platoon was employed in carrying out raids on the German trenches.

In October the 6th Battalion returned to the Somme and took up positions in the Flers–Gueudecourt sector in preparation for the coming winter.

On 11 November 1916 the battalion’s bombing platoon conducted a raid on a German position known as Hilt Trench, just outside the village of Gueudecourt. On this occasion the German troops had laid in wait for the raiding party, and opened fire at close quarters with machine-guns and hand grenades.

Owing to the muddy conditions, the platoon had great difficulties in retiring across no man’s land, and suffered heavy casualties. In the end one man was killed, six were wounded, and a further six were reported missing.

One of the missing was Private John O’Callaghan, who was last seen severely wounded near a German machine-gun position. The bodies of the rest of the missing men were later recovered from the battlefield, and it was suggested that John O’Callaghan had been taken prisoner, although he never turned up on any official list or appeared in German captivity.

Despite attempts by the Red Cross to locate his whereabouts, a court of inquiry held in September 1917 determined that John O’Callaghan had been killed during the raid on Hilt Trench.

His remains were never recovered, and John is one of 10,700 Australians with no known grave; his name appears on the Australian National Memorial to the Missing at Villers-Bretonneux.

John O’Callaghan is listed on the Roll of Honour on my right, along with 60,000 others from the First World War. His photograph is displayed today beside the Pool of Reflection.

His is one of the many stories of courage and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Private John Joseph O’Callaghan and all of those Australians who have given their lives in service of our nation.