The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (5457) Private Arthur Walter Page, 4th 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 (5457) Private Arthur Walter Page, 4th Battalion, AIF, First World War.

5457 Private Arthur Walter Page, 4th Battalion, AIF
KIA 15 April 1917
Photograph: P08624.283

Story delivered 28 July 2015

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private Arthur Walter Page of the 4th Australian Infantry Battalion.

Arthur Page was born in Dural in New South Wales, the third son of Mr and Mrs Henry Page. He spent most of his childhood in Seven Hills, Sydney, and was educated at the public school at Toongabbie. His father described him as “just an ordinary boy, quiet, self-contained, determined, clean living … able to say ‘no’ and stick to no … rather fond of cricket”.

He was working as a bedstead maker on the outbreak of the First World War, living with his father in the teacher’s residence at the Seven Hills Public School. He enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in early 1916, aged 26, and was sent to England with the 18th reinforcements to the 4th Battalion. He joined the battalion in France in September 1916.

Summer was ending as Page reached France, and the winter of 1916–17 was one of the coldest on record. The men in the trenches were often snowed on, and, when the ground was not frozen, it was muddy and wet. The 4th Battalion was regularly in the front line, and Page’s chill-blains and trench foot caused him to be hospitalised on a number of occasions.

In April 1917 the 4th Battalion was holding the line near Demicourt, and still experiencing heavy snowfalls. On Friday the 13th of April the battalion successfully advanced their line some 1,000 yards, establishing and digging in a new line in the freezing conditions. Two days later their new position was attacked by the enemy. Following a heavy artillery barrage the Germans came over in numbers, bearing flamethrowers. Reserves were rushed forward to hold them off, and eventually the attack was repulsed in most parts of the line.

At the end of this dangerous, hectic activity, Arthur Page was missing. His family would not receive official word that he had been killed in action on 15 April 1917 until that December, when a court of inquiry determined that he could not have survived the day. There were some reports that he had been killed by an artillery shell. Arthur Page was 27 years old.

His name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my right, along with more than 60,000 others from the First World War, and 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 Private Arthur Walter Page, and all of those Australians who have given their lives in the service of our nation.

Dr Meleah Hampton
Historian, Military History Section

Sources:
4th Battalion War Diary, April 1917, Australian War Memorial: AWM4 23/21/26.
http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/records/awm131/awm131-38-0335.pdf.

National Archives of Australia, service record, Arthur Walter Page.

“Family notices”, Richmond River Express & Tweed Advertiser, 29 December 1917, p. 4.

“Our brave boys on the battlefield”, Richmond River Express & Tweed Advertiser, 12 January 1918, p. 10.