The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (2004) Private Peter Keenan, 58th 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 Meredith Duncan, the story for this day was on (2004) Private Peter Keenan, 58th Battalion, AIF, First World War.

2004 Private Peter Keenan, 58th Battalion, AIF
KIA 25 September 1917
No photograph in collection

Story delivered 20 July 2015

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private Peter Keenan.

Peter Keenan was the eldest son of Peter and Catherine Keenan of Camperdown, Victoria. He attended the local state school and went on to work for Morrison’s, the local grocery, for four and a half years. He later moved to another position under a Mr McGilvray, proving an able employee. He was a popular young man in town, considered a general favourite, and a good son to his parents.

Keenan was keen to enlist in the Australian Imperial Force, but was much too young to do so at the outbreak of the war. At 18 he began making repeated requests to his parents for the permission he would need to legally enlist. Finally, two months short of his 19th birthday, they relented and allowed him to join the army. Keenan first went to the local enlistment office in Camperdown, but was turned down, apparently for having a weak heart. Undaunted, the following day he took the train to Warrnambool, where the medical officer found no health problems and accepted Keenan’s application.

Private Keenan was posted to the 58th Battalion, and underwent a period of training in both Australia and England before being sent to France for active duty in the trenches of the Western Front. He arrived there in February 1917.

Shortly after his arrival the 58th Battalion participated in the advance that followed the German retreat to the Hindenburg line. It was an important part of the defence of these territorial gains around the French village of Bullecourt in May. Lieutenant Deane of the battalion later wrote that Peter’s work at Bullecourt was “at the least, magnificent”. He considered Keenan one of his “best lads” and said that his “conduct was such as to win the highest praise”.

On 25 September the battalion was in the front lines at Polygon Wood in Belgium, waiting for zero hour of a planned operation against German positions. As Keenan waited with a number of soldiers, a German artillery shell landed in their midst. Private Peter Keenan was hit in the head by a piece of the shell. One of his best mates in the battalion, Private William Howlett, saw the blast and quickly made his way over to where Keenan lay. He was dead when Howlett reached him.

Private Peter Keenan was hastily buried with a number of others, and later reinterred and buried in the Hooge Crater Cemetery near Ypres. He was 20 years old.

His name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my right, along with more than 60,000 Australians who died during the First World War.

This is but one of the many stories of service and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Private Peter Keenan, and all those Australians who have given their lives in the service of our nation.
Dr Meleah Hampton
Historian, Military History Section

Sources:
Roll of Honour Circular, Australian War Memorial.

Australian War Memorial Red Cross Wounded and Missing file, Peter Keenan.

National Archives of Australia, service record, Peter Keenan.

“Late Private P. Keenan”, Camperdown Chronicle, 16 October 1917, p. 2.

“Late Private Keenan: a fine tribute”, Camperdown Chronicle, 5 January 1918, p. 3.