The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (5515) Gunner John Henry Bartleson 1st Field Artillery Brigade, 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 (5515) Gunner John Henry Bartleson 1st Field Artillery Brigade, AIF, First World War.

5515 Gunner John Henry Bartleson 1st Field Artillery Brigade, AIF
KIA 26 July 1916
No photograph in collection

Story delivered 18 September 2015

Today we remember and pay tribute to Gunner John Henry Bartleson.

John Bartleson was born in 1897 in Bright, Victoria, to Thomas Henry and Mabel Rebecca Bartleson. He grew up in Albury and attended Albury Grammar School, and was also a member of the Scout Cadets. On leaving school he gained work as a farm labourer.

After the First World War began Bartleson enlisted for service with the Australian Field Artillery on 10 September 1915 and was allotted to the 11th reinforcements to the 1st Field Artillery Brigade. He embarked from Melbourne aboard the transport ship Nestor in October 1915 and arrived in Egypt that December, after which he was posted to the 2nd Battery.

After several months of training in the desert the 1st Field Artillery Brigade sailed for France, arriving at the end of March. In April it moved to Steenwerck and the following month went into battery lines in the Fromelles sector, where it was used to harass the Germans and to support the Australian infantrymen occupying front-line positions.

It was around this time that Bartleson recorded his only two misdemeanours. In early May he was absent from a parade and was confined to barracks for his trouble. Later, when the 2nd Battery was in firing positions, he “committed a nuisance in the billets”, and was confined to his barracks for five days.

In July the brigade moved into positions east of Albert, and only days later began firing to support the attack on Pozières. At 2 pm on 26 July the 2nd Battery positions were shelled, wounding an officer and killing two batmen, one of whom was John Bartleson.

He was initially buried near Shelter Wood, a mile to the north-east of Fricourt, but after the war his body was relocated to Gordon Dump Cemetery at Ovillers–La Boiselle. He was 19 years old.

His name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my right, along with around 60,000 others from 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 Gunner John Henry Bartleson, and all Australians who have given their lives in the service of our nation.

Michael Kelly
Historian, Military History Section