The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (4084) Private David James Herbert, 12th Australian Infantry 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 Meredith Duncan, the story for this day was on (4084) Private David James Herbert, 12th Australian Infantry Battalion, AIF, First World War.

4084 Private David James Herbert, 12th Australian Infantry Battalion, AIF
KIA 23 July 1916
No photograph in collection

Story delivered 20 November 2015

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private David James Herbert.

David Herbert was born in 1890 to David and Elizabeth Herbert. Born in Melbourne and raised in Beaconsfield, Tasmania, Herbert had returned to the Victorian capital and was working as a driver when he enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in July 1915.

The 25 year old was assigned to the 12th Battalion, which – along with the 9th, 10th, and 11th Battalions – formed the 3rd Brigade of the 1st Australian Division. He left Australia in March 1916 on board the Transylvania, joining the main unit in France in mid-May. He experienced trench warfare almost immediately, with heavy shelling, artillery fire and gas attacks by the enemy in the 12th Battalion’s part of the front line.

On 23 July 1916 the 1st Division attacked and captured the French village of Pozières. Some of the heaviest fighting was experienced in the 12th Battalion’s sector, and they sustained heavy casualties. One of those killed was Private David Herbert. Little is known of the manner of his death, and his body was lost in the confusion of the fight. He had been in France for little more than two months.

After the war, Herbert’s death was remembered by the Salvation Army community, for he had been a bandsman with the religious congregation. A tribute in the Salvation Army record of the First World War read: “His sweet and lovable disposition, intensified by a godly and consistent life, endeared him to all his comrades and, in fact, to all who knew him.”

David Herbert was 26 years old.

His younger brother, Private Alfred Herbert of the 46th Battalion, was also killed in action in France, dying on 8 August 1918 aged just 21.

Both brothers’ names are listed on the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial in France. They also appear on the Roll of Honour on my right, among the more than 60,000 Australians who died while serving in 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 David James Herbert and all those Australians who have given their lives in the service of our nation.

Emma Campbell
Writer, Military History Section