The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of Major Percy Charles Herbert Black, 16th 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 Major Percy Charles Herbert Black, 16th Battalion, AIF, First World War.

Major Percy Charles Herbert Black, 16th Battalion, AIF
KIA 11 April 1917
Photograph: J00369

Story delivered 9 February 2015

Today we remember and pay tribute to Major Percy Charles Herbert Black, who died during the First World War.

Percy Black was born in Victoria in 1877, the eleventh child of William and Anne Black. Originally from Ireland, William and Anne raised their large family on a property at Beremboke, a small farming community west of Melbourne. Like thousands of Australians Percy travelled to the Western Australian goldfields in the early 1900s for the chance to strike it rich, and he earned a reputation as a decent sportsman and a crack shot.

Percy enlisted in the AIF in September 1914. He was assigned to the machine-gun section of the 16th Battalion and was quickly promoted to lance corporal. After a period of consolidation and training the battalion left Australia in December and arrived in Egypt in February, setting up camp at Heliopolis. In April the battalion left for Lemnos and, ultimately, Gallipoli.

Troops of the 16th Battalion landed on Gallipoli in the late afternoon of 25 April. In early May Percy and his fellow machine-gunners were in the thick of the action in an area later known as Bloody Angle. Percy was the only member of his gun team not to be killed or seriously wounded during the fighting; after firing all the available ammunition he carried the gun back to cover alone. For this he was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal, the second-highest decoration for gallantry awarded to non-officers. Percy was soon promoted to second lieutenant and became the battalion’s machine-gun officer.

The situation on Gallipoli was deteriorating, and in December the Anzac troops were taken off the peninsula in stages. Percy was selected to form part of the 4th Brigade’s rearguard, and was one of the last to leave in the early hours of 20 December.

Back in Egypt Percy, now captain, was given command of his own company. For several months the troops trained extensively, and in May, just as the Australians were preparing to join the fight on the Western Front, Percy received his final promotion to the rank of major.

The 16th Battalion arrived at the front line near Armentières in mid-June. Later the battalion was involved in the drive from Pozières to Thiepval, culminating in the fighting at Mouquet Farm, where Percy was wounded in the head and arm by a grenade while leading his company in an attack against the German trenches. He was evacuated and admitted to hospital in London. There Percy learned that he had been awarded the Distinguished Service Order for his actions, and upon his return to the front later that year was told the French government had also awarded him the Croix de Guerre. Along with these decorations, Percy was Mentioned in Despatches twice that year.

Early on 11 April 1917 the 16th Battalion was engaged as part of the 4th Brigade’s attempt to capture the town of Bullecourt, a strongpoint of the German defensive line. Troops of the 16th Battalion succeeded in penetrating the German trenches, but faced strong resistance. By midday the Australian casualties were staggering, with thousands killed, wounded, or taken prisoner. The 16th Battalion alone suffered some 636 casualties.

Percy was one of those casualties – killed by a bullet to the head while pushing on to his company’s second objective. He was 38 years old. Percy’s best friend, Harry Murray, a highly decorated officer of the 13th Battalion, searched for Percy’s body, but to no avail.

Percy’s death was keenly felt by his battalion and his family at home. Official historian Charles Bean noted that Percy was often referred to by his admirers as “the bravest in the AIF”. In memory of their fallen comrade, 16th battalion veterans organised for Percy’s photograph to be displayed in the Perth Soldiers’ Institute, and for a memorial plaque to be installed in St George’s Cathedral. The plaque was unveiled in June 1917, during which the Governor of Western Australia described Percy as “a gallant soldier and a distinguished man”.

Percy is commemorated at the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial in France, along with some 10,700 other Australians who died on the Western Front battlefields and who have no known grave.

His name is also listed on the Roll of Honour to my right, with those 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 Major Percy Charles Herbert Black, and all those Australians who have given their lives in the service of our nation.

Dr Kate Ariotti
Historian, Military History Section

Sources:
National Archives of Australia, Percy Black, service record.

16th Battalion War Diary – April 1917: AWM4 23/33/17.

“Major Percy Black”, The West Australian, June 1917, p. 7.

Charles Bean, Official history of Australia in the war of 1914–1918: volume IV – the Australian Imperial Force in France, 1917, Angus and Robertson, Sydney, 1921–42.

Jeff Hatwell, No ordinary determination: Percy Black and Harry Murray of the First AIF, Fremantle Arts Centre Press, Fremantle, Western Australia, 2005.