The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (861) Corporal Norman Mervyn Rushforth, 15th 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 Jana Johnson, the story for this day was on (861) Corporal Norman Mervyn Rushforth, 15th Battalion, First World War.

861 Corporal Norman Mervyn Rushforth, 15th Battalion
KIA 26 April 1915
No photograph in collection

Story delivered 26 February 2015

Today we remember and pay tribute to Corporal Norman Mervyn Rushforth, who died during the First World War.

Norman Rushforth was born in 1888 in the town of Stroud, north of Newcastle in New South Wales. His father, George Frederick Rushforth, was Reverend Canon of the Murrurundi Anglican Church in the district of Maitland. Norman was working as a farmer in Kingaroy, Queensland, when he enlisted in the 15th Battalion soon after the outbreak of war in September 1914.

Twenty-five-year-old Norman joined the 15th Battalion as a private, but was promoted to corporal in November. He left Australia on HMAT Ceramic in December 1914, arriving in Egypt in February 1915. The 15th was one of many Australian battalions to undertake months of training in Alexandria before joining the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force as part of the allied attack on Gallipoli.

The majority of the 15th Battalion landed on Gallipoli throughout the morning of 26 April. At some point on this day Norman was wounded, and was subsequently listed as missing. Conflicting reports of his whereabouts and welfare were received by his family for almost a year before it was determined by a court of inquiry held in Alexandria in May 1916 that he had been killed in action on 26 April. At receiving the official news, his father said: “of course we had long ago given up any hope of his being alive but it seemed to us that he must have died during transport [of the wounded] … we may feel thankful that he did not die the lingering death we feared”.

Norman is one of 683 Commonwealth servicemen commemorated at Shrapnel Valley Cemetery, located just south of Anzac Cove on Gallipoli.

Norman Rushforth’s 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.

This is just one of the many stories of service and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Corporal Norman Mervyn Rushforth, and all those Australians who have given their lives in the service of our nation.

Dr Kate Ariotti
Historian, Military History Section

Sources:
15th Battalion War Diary, entries for 25/26 April 1915, Australian
War Memorial: AWM4 23/32/6

National Archives of Australia, Norman Mervyn Rushforth,
attestation papers, statement of service, court of inquiry report.

The Maitland Daily Mercury, 12 May 1916.

Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Cemetery Details,
“Shrapnel Valley”.