The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (1073) Private Gordon James Alford 10th Battalion, AIF, First World War

Place Middle East: Ottoman Empire, Turkey, Dardanelles, Gallipoli
Accession Number PAFU2015/013.01
Collection type Film
Object type Last Post film
Physical description 16:9
Maker Australian War Memorial
Place made Australia: Australian Capital Territory, Canberra, Campbell
Date made 13 January 2015
Access Open
Conflict First World War, 1914-1918
Copyright Item copyright: © Australian War Memorial
Creative Commons License This item is licensed under CC BY-NC
Copying Provisions Copyright restrictions apply. Only personal, non-commercial, research and study use permitted. Permission of copyright holder required for any commercial use and/or reproduction.
Description

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 Craig Berelle, the story for this day was on (1073) Private Gordon James Alford 10th Battalion, AIF, First World War.

Film order form
Speech transcript

1073 Private Gordon James Alford 10th Battalion, AIF
DOW 7 May 1915
Photograph: H06573

Story delivered 13 January 2015

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private Gordon James Alford.

Gordon James Alford was born on 28 December 1892 in Yongala, South Australia, to Matthew and Mary Ann Alford. He was the second-youngest of nine children born to the couple.

Alford’s mother died when he was five, leaving his father to raise him. He attended school at Peterborough and went on to qualify as an accountant.

Shortly after the outbreak of the First World War, Alford, who had been working as a clerk, enlisted for service with the 10th Battalion at Morphettville. He was appointed to battalion headquarters as a batman.

He embarked with the 10th Battalion from Outer Harbour, Port Adelaide, on 20 October aboard the transport ship Ascanius. After stopping at Albany, Western Australia, the ship sailed as part of the first convoy of Australian troops to the war.

After disembarking in Egypt in early December, the men of the 10th Battalion endured several months of training in the desert. At the beginning of March 1915, the battalion sailed to Lemnos in preparation for what was to become the Gallipoli campaign.

Alford was amongst the first wave of Australians ashore in the pre-dawn hours of 25 April. He had been ashore a week when he was wounded in the 10th Battalion’s frontline positions at Shell Green. He was taken to the 1st Casualty Clearing Station to have his wound treated.

On 7 May, the casualty clearing station was shelled by Turkish artillery and Alford was wounded for a second time. He was transferred to HMT Lutzow where he succumbed to his wounds. Alford was buried at sea that evening. He was 22 years old.

Today Private Gordon James Alford is commemorated on the memorial to the missing in Lone Pine Cemetery on Gallipoli.

Alford’s name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my right, along with more than 60,000 others from the First World War. This evening, his photograph is displayed 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 Gordon James Alford, and all those Australians who have given their lives in the service of our nation.

Michael Kelly
Historian, Military History Section

Sources:
National Archives of Australia service record series B2455: Gordon James Alford: http://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/DetailsReports/ItemDetail.aspx?Barcode=3026513&isAv=N

Ancestry site for Gordon James Alford: http://trees.ancestrylibrary.com/tree/64015808/person/46139291940

AWM Roll of Honour page for Gordon James Alford: http://www.awm.gov.au/people/rolls/R1652395

AWM Roll of Honour circular: http://static.awm.gov.au/images/collection/pdf/RCDIG1068849--467-.PDF

AWM4 10th Battalion War Diary March-April 1915: http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/AWM4/23/27/2

AWM4 10th Battalion War Diary May 1915

Robert Kearney, Silent Voices, New Holland Press, New South Wales, 2005.

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