The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (1317) Private John Camp, 10th 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 Richard Cruise, the story for this day was on (1317) Private John Camp, 10th Battalion, AIF, First World War.

1317 Private John Camp, 10th Battalion, AIF
DOW 15 May 1915
No photograph in collection

Story delivered 6 September 2015

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private John Camp.

“Jack” Camp was born on 12 December 1892 to Elliot and Ruth Dew. He was born in Copperhouse, near Burra in South Australia. He was raised in the copper-mining town and attended the local school, and went on to work as a labourer in the area.

Camp enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on 28 November 1914. He was posted to the 2nd reinforcements to the 10th Battalion and, after a brief period of training in Australia, left for Egypt in February 1915. From there he was sent to fight on the Gallipoli peninsula.

Private Camp was described by his friends as “a soldier and a man who never funked or shirked his duty and who always volunteered for outpost duty and other ticklish jobs”. Little is known of his experience at Anzac, but we do know that on 9 May he presented to the Field Ambulance with the flu, and spent a couple of days there recovering.

On 14 May, just a few days after re-joining his battalion, Private Camp and his comrades were sent into the firing line. At that time the Australian trenches were under heavy Turkish shell-fire, and as he left the supporting trench Jack Camp was struck by a shell that burst almost directly overhead. He was wounded in the abdomen and groin. Camp’s mates carried him to help straight away, and he was sent down to the beach to be put on a hospital ship. His friends believed that he was only slightly wounded and that he would return soon. It was not until they received a letter from Jack’s sister that they found out this was not the case.

Private Jack Camp died on board HMT Gascon the day after he was wounded, and he was buried at sea not far from Anzac Cove. His family was notified of his death, but Ruth Camp needed to know more about the final days of her son, and wrote to the Minister of Defence, saying, “I would like to know how long he lived, and where buried, land or sea if it is possible to know”. His sisters also sought information, which was eventually supplied by Jack’s friend Private Allen Reid, writing from Anzac Cove:

You may rest assured he was with his friends right up to the time he was sent on the boat, and that they did all in their power to ease his sufferings whilst he remained with them … By his death you have lost one in whom you may rejoice for he gave his all in the fight for justice, right and the freedom of all who claim the British flag as theirs.

Jack Camp was 22.

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 John Camp, and all those Australians who have given their lives in the service of our nation.

Dr Meleah Hampton
Historian, Military History Section