Place | Middle East: Ottoman Empire, Turkey, Dardanelles, Gallipoli, Cape Helles Area, Krithia |
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Accession Number | PAFU2015/166.01 |
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 | 26 April 2015 |
Access | Open |
Conflict |
First World War, 1914-1918 |
Copyright |
Item copyright: © Australian War Memorial![]() |
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. |
The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (2064) Private John Edward Starick, 6th 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 Joanne Smedley, the story for this day was on (2064) Private John Edward Starick, 6th Battalion, First World War.
Film order form2064 Private John Edward Starick, 6th Battalion
KIA 8 May 1915
No photograph in collection
Story delivered 26 April 2015
Today we remember and pay tribute to Private John Edward Starick, who died during the First World War.
John Starick was born in 1894 in the small Victorian town of Antwerp, about 350 kilometres north-west of Melbourne. He attended school in Dimboola, and was working as a farm labourer when he enlisted in the 6th Battalion in September 1914, just over a month after war was declared.
The 6th Battalion was part of the second wave of troops to land on Gallipoli on 25 April 1915. Ten days later it was ordered to Cape Helles, on the southern tip of the peninsula. Here it would take part in an attack against the town of Krithia, with the ultimate goal of taking the hill to the rear of the town. Securing this hill had been one of the objectives of the British on the first day of the landings.
The 6th Battalion went into action at 5.30 pm on 8 May, with orders to form the front line of an attack against the enemy trenches. This was a fierce and dangerous advance. The enemy position was heavily defended and the toll on the Australians was great. The battalion’s war diary for 8 May states: “the advance commenced under very heavy shrapnel, rifle, and machine-gun fire … losses were heavy”. Official historian Charles Bean wrote that the attack was “made in the teeth of rifle and machine-gun fire such as Australians seldom again encountered during the war”.
By the time the 6th Battalion was relieved four days later it had suffered some 337 casualties. One of those killed was John Starick, though the exact particulars of his death are unknown. At first listed as missing, nearly a year later John was later determined by a court of inquiry to have been killed in action on 8 May.
Today he is commemorated at Redoubt Cemetery at Helles. This cemetery was first established by the Australians involved in the May 1915 attacks at Krithia, and now commemorates some 2,000 servicemen, including nearly 1,400 whose graves are not known.
John Starick’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. His photograph is displayed today by 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 John Edward Starick, and all those Australians who have given their lives in the service of our nation.
Dr Kate Ariotti
Historian, Military History Section
Sources:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour circular.
6th Battalion Diary for May 1915, Australian War Memorial: AWM 4, 23/23/1.
National Archives of Australia, attestation papers, John Edward Starick; “Report of death of a soldier …”
C.E.W. Bean, Official history of Australia in the war of 1914–1918, vol. II, Angus and Robertson, Sydney, 1921–42.
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Video of The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (2064) Private John Edward Starick, 6th Battalion, First World War (video)