The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (644) Private Frederick Warren Muir, 1st 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 Troy Clayton, the story for this day was on (644) Private Frederick Warren Muir, 1st Battalion, AIF, First World War.

644 Private Frederick Warren Muir, 1st Battalion, AIF
DOW 28 November 1915
No photograph in collection

Story delivered 11 August 2015

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private Frederick Warren Muir.

Fred Muir was the son of solicitor James Muir and his wife, Alice. He was born in Unanderra in Illawarra, New South Wales, in 1893. James Muir died when Fred was very young, and Fred’s uncle Byron became his guardian. Fred attended the public school in Unanderra and the district school in Wollongong. He later received private tuition in the hopes of becoming a solicitor, like his father. He was also an active member of the local cadets, rising to the rank of lieutenant.

Fred Muir enlisted within weeks of the outbreak of war in 1914. He was posted to the 1st Battalion, and after a short period of training was sent for overseas service. Fred and the 1st Battalion arrived in Egypt on 2 December 1914, and took part in the landing at Anzac Cove on 25 April 1915.

Muir sent a number of letters home, many of which were published in the local newspaper. He wrote of life in the trenches, Turkish attacks, and the armistice to bury the dead in May. After the heavy fighting of the landing, Fred noted that the men had “settled down to the monotony of trench life, losing account of the day, date and time”. He wrote of a Turkish howitzer, which he and his mates had dubbed “Ned Kelly”, sending over several shells which burst very close to his position, “shaking our trenches and covering us with dust and heaps of earth”. He added: “It is amazing with what equanimity you can contemplate the other side being shelled by such monsters as [our] 15-inch guns, but how the case is changed when they retaliate”.

After participating in the fierce fighting of the August Offensive, Muir was sent to a rest camp on the island of Lemnos for seven weeks. He wrote:

None of us felt particularly sorry when the coast of Gallipoli disappeared. Five months under fire, in the dirt and discomfort of the trenches had proved about as much as we could stand; moreover, the fighting during the last month had been very severe and exhausting, and the winter was beginning.

Muir arrived back at Anzac Cove in October. In November he wrote home of the stillness: “everything here remains very quiet; there is a little artillery during the day, but our position is not much troubled by shells”.

However, a month later an artillery shell landed close enough to Private Muir’s position to badly wound him in the head and face. He was evacuated on board a hospital ship. The nursing matron wrote that everything possible was done for him, and he seemed to be getting better. However, a day later he took a sudden turn for the worse and lapsed into unconsciousness. Private Fred Muir died on 28 November 1915 and was buried at sea. He was 22 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 Frederick Warren Muir, and all of those Australians who have given their lives in the service of our nation.

Dr Meleah Hampton
Historian, Military History Section