The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (1797) Private William Roy Pugsley, 18th 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 Joanne Smedley, the story for this day was on (1797) Private William Roy Pugsley, 18th Battalion, AIF, First World War.

1797 Private William Roy Pugsley, 18th Battalion, AIF
KIA 22 August 1915
No photograph in collection

Story delivered 21 August 2015

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private William Roy Pugsley.

Roy Pugsley was born in 1897 to Anthony and Lily Pugsley of Lithgow, New South Wales. Around 1905 his family, then consisting of his parents and his sisters Doris and Leila, moved to Parkes, where his father worked as a draper. Roy attended the local public school, and later attended Forbes High School. In 1913 his parents produced another daughter, Roma. Following his education Roy took a position as a junior law clerk with McIntosh & Crowther’s of Forbes. Every eligible member that firm’s staff would enlist for service in the First World War.

Pugsley enlisted in 1915 and was posted to the 18th Battalion. After a brief period of training in Australia he was sent first to Egypt, where he continued training with his battalion, and then on to Gallipoli. The 18th Battalion arrived in late August 1915, and had not been there a day when it was committed to the last operation of the August Offensive, an attack on Hill 60. The operation began on 21 August 1915, and would last a little over a week.

The first attack on Hill 60 was let down by inadequate artillery support, and nearly half of the men involved in the attack became casualties. On 27 August the operation was renewed, again with catastrophic results.

Anthony Pugsley was later notified by telegram that his son had gone missing after the 18th Battalion’s first attack on 22 August. In fact, the same day this telegram was delivered a letter also arrived from Roy, written on Gallipoli and dated 26 August. He wrote that he had been in action twice, including a bayonet charge, and that he had had bullets through his hat on at least one occasion. He wrote that he was a little sick, and was resting near base.

This letter gave Anthony Pugsley great hope that his son would be found, either in a hospital or as a Turkish prisoner of war. It was not to be. A court of inquiry held in Tel-el-Kebir in January 1916 determined that it was reasonable to suppose that Roy Pugsley had been killed in action. It seems likely that Pugsley survived the first attack only to be killed on 27 August, but it is impossible to know for sure. His official date of death is listed as 22 August. His body was never recovered, and today he is commemorated on Gallipoli on the Lone Pine Memorial to the missing. He was 18 years old.

His name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my right, among 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 William Roy Pugsley, and all those Australians who have given their lives in the service of our nation.

Dr Meleah Hampton
Historian, Military History Section