The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (3158) Private William Edward Mazey, 4th 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 Charis May, the story for this day was on (3158) Private William Edward Mazey, 4th Battalion, AIF, First World War.

3158 Private William Edward Mazey, 4th Battalion, AIF
DOW 25 July 1916
Photograph: H06493

Story delivered 20 December 2014

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private William Edward Mazey of the 4th Battalion, Australian Imperial Force.

William Mazey was born in 1896 to Margaret and David Mazey, and was one of seven children. Known to his family as “Will”, he grew up in the Sydney suburb of Balmain and was educated at Balmain Public School.

Mazey was working as a clerk when the First World War began. Shortly after his 19th birthday he enlisted for service with the AIF and was posted to 7th reinforcements to the 19th Battalion. He sailed for Egypt with his unit aboard the transport ship Suevic in December, and after arriving was transferred to the 4th Battalion, which had only recently returned from Gallipoli.

In March the battalion sailed for France. After a period of familiarisation in the nursery sector near Armentières the 4th Battalion moved south to take part in the attack on Pozières. As they marched through the town of Albert, they saw the statue of the Virgin on the steeple of Notre-Dame de Brebières, which had been hit by German shell-fire in 1915. The Australians christened the statue “Fanny Durack”, after the Australian swimmer who won a gold medal during the 1912 Olympic Games.

On 24 July the 4th Battalion was subjected to a relentless bombardment by German forces as they tried to hold on to the village of Pozières. Trenches were blown in and there were “no dug-outs in which men on post could take shelter”. The men, if not wounded, were “kept busy digging out men who were buried alive by the explosions”.

The following day Mazey was severely wounded by shrapnel and taken to No. 3 Australian Field Ambulance, where he later died of his wounds. He was buried at Becourt Military Cemetery, two kilometres east of Albert. He was 20 years old.

Mazey’s mother, Margaret, despite being devoutly Christian, wanted neither a cross nor a Star of David on her “dear boy’s” gravestone, only that it should be inscribed with the words “‘Will’, dearly loved”. Shortly after Will’s death, Francis Mazey, deeply affected by the death of his only brother, enlisted in the AIF. He later fought on the Western Front, survived the war, and returned to Australia.

William Mazey was one of 6,700 Australians to die at Pozières. His name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my right, along with more than 60,000 others from the First World War. His photograph is displayed today beside the Pool of Reflection.

This is but one of the many stories of service and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Private William Edward Mazey, and all of those Australians who have given their lives in service of our nation.

Marian Mazey, Education Officer, Education and Visitor Services
and
Michael Kelly, Historian, Military History Section