The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (3714) Private Frederick Beeten, 20th 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 Andrew Smith, the story for this day was on (3714) Private Frederick Beeten, 20th Battalion, AIF, First World War.

3714 Private Frederick Beeten, 20th Battalion
KIA 16 April 1916
No photograph in collection

Story delivered 9 May 2015

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private Frederick Beeten, who was killed while fighting in France during the First World War.

Frederick Beeten was born in 1897, one of 12 children of John and Susan Beeten of Yass, New South Wales. Fred, as he was known, attended the St Mary’s convent school at Murrumburrah, where as a young man he became a member of the Senior Cadets under the compulsory military training scheme of the time. Although he left school early to take up an apprenticeship with Jones & Edgar tailors in Yass, Fred continued parading with the local cadet unit until he was old enough to volunteer for the Australian Imperial Force. This he did the morning after his 18th birthday in August 1915, travelling to the drill hall in Goulburn and enlisting for service in the Great War. Fred underwent his initial training at the military camp at Casula, and left Australia with a reinforcement group for the 20th Battalion in December 1915.

Although the Gallipoli campaign was drawing to a close when Fred left Australia, his troopship proceeded to Egypt and he spent several months training at Mena Camp outside Cairo. The 20th Battalion had spent just a few months on Gallipoli without taking part in any battles, but a large number of men were evacuated suffering from disease. Fred was among a number of reinforcement groups that built the battalion back to full strength before deploying to the much-anticipated fighting against the German army in France.

The 20th Battalion was among the first Australian units to proceed to France, and was the first Australian unit to enter the front-line trenches in the sector known as “the nursery”, outside the village of Bois Grenier. This was a relatively quiet part of the Western Front where new units could acclimatise to the conditions and earn combat experience through raiding and patrolling, while old units rested from more active sectors. The troops worked at night to repair damage to their positions incurred by the German artillery that routinely rained down violent intensity.

The 20th Battalion had only been in the line for two days when, on 16 April 1916, Fred Beeten was caught by one of the high-explosive German shells. He was killed instantly, along with two other men, and was buried in the local cemetery at Erquinghem-Lys, where he rests today. He was just 18 years old.

Fred Beeten’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 is just one of the many stories of service and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Private Fred Beeten, and all of those Australians who have given their lives in service of our nation.

Aaron Pegram
Historian, Military History Section