The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (684) Private William Thomas Adams, 7th 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 Michael Kelly, the story for this day was on (684) Private William Thomas Adams, 7th Battalion, First World War.

684 Private William Thomas Adams, 7th Battalion
KIA 25 April – 2 May 1915
Photograph: P06879.001

Story delivered 8 February 2015

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private William Thomas Adams, who died during the First World War.
William Adams was born in 1894 in Port Adelaide, South Australia, one of four children to William and Lizzie Adams. Young William attended school and technical college in Broken Hill, and was an active participant in the local cadet forces. However, it was from the Melbourne suburb of Footscray that William enlisted in the AIF just a few weeks after the declaration of war in August 1914.

William was assigned to the 7th Battalion and left Melbourne in October on HMAT Hororata. The battalion arrived in Egypt in early December, and was marched into the training camp at Mena. Route marches, physical drill, bayonet and musketry practice, and sentry duties were the orders of the day.

In early April the 7th Battalion left Egypt for Lemnos, where the troops trained in preparation for the landings on Gallipoli. The 7th Battalion was part of the second wave to land at Anzac Cove at 5.30 am on 25 April. This landing was particularly confused, and the battalion became fragmented. Some 7th Battalion troops came under heavy fire from Turks defending a position known as Fisherman’s Hut, while the rest were landed further south and advanced inland towards 400 Plateau. In early May the 7th Battalion was transferred to Cape Helles to take part in the ultimately disastrous attacks at Krithia.

It was at some point between the 7th Battalion’s landing and its transfer to Cape Helles that William, just a few weeks shy of his 21st birthday, was killed. The exact particulars of his death are unknown, and military
authorities could narrow his date of death only to between 25 April and 2 May.

On hearing of William’s death, his younger brother, who was also serving in the AIF, wrote a letter to their mother reminding her that “Bill died a hero fighting for his country, so be consoled with the knowledge that your first son died bravely in honour and glory …” William’s body was discovered on the peninsula after the war and he was reburied in the Lone Pine Cemetery, where he rests today.

William Adams’ name is listed on the Roll of Honour to my right, along with the names of more than 60,000 other Australians who died fighting in 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 Thomas Adams, and all those Australians who have given their lives in the service of our nation.

Dr Kate Ariotti
Historian, Military History Section

Sources:
www.ancestry.com

Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour circular.

7th Battalion War Diary April 1915: AWM4 23/24/2.

7th Battalion War Diary August 1914 to February 1915: AWM4 23/24/1.

See caption to photograph, AWM P06879.001.

National Archives of Australia, W.T. Adams, attestation papers, “Report of death of a soldier”.

National Archives of Australia, W.T. Adams, “Graves Registration Units – Exhumation Report”.