The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of Lieutenant Leo Aloysius McCartin MC, 22nd 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 Charis May, the story for this day was on Lieutenant Leo Aloysius McCartin MC, 22nd Battalion, AIF, First World War.

Lieutenant Leo Aloysius McCartin MC, 22nd Battalion, AIF
KIA 18 August 1918
Photograph: P04003.002

Story delivered 25 November 2015

Today we remember and pay tribute to Lieutenant Leo Aloysius McCartin, who died during the First World War.

Leo McCartin was born in August 1894 in Geelong, Victoria, one of Michael and Mary McCartin’s eight children. He attended St Mary’s Boys’ School in Geelong, where he excelled in sports and athletics. He was working as a draper when he enlisted in the AIF in March 1915.

Aged 20, McCartin was assigned to the 22nd Battalion and left Melbourne on HMAT Ulysses in May 1915, bound for Egypt. After a period of training the battalion arrived on Gallipoli in early September, where it remained until the evacuation.

In March 1916 the 22nd Battalion was sent to France to join the fighting on the Western Front. McCartin was promoted to lance corporal within a few months of being in France, and in June 1916 was praised by Corps Commander William Birdwood for his gallant actions on the battlefield.

McCartin received his commission that August, and in November was promoted to lieutenant. Soon after, he was attached to the 2nd Division Signal School for duties with the 6th Brigade Signallers. From May 1917 to January 1918 McCartin was in England for training and other duties, and became qualified as a signalling instructor.

In February 1918 McCartin returned to France, and two months later was involved in the fighting at Lavieville, where he led a party of men to repair telephone wires that had been damaged in an intense bombardment, successfully restoring communication to the front lines. His Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Colonel A.L.R. Wiltshire, recommended McCartin, whom he affectionately called “Bubsie”, for the Military Cross for this action, stating that “his coolness and courage were beyond all praise”.

McCartin was awarded the MC later that month, around the same time as the 22nd Battalion was involved in the fighting at Villers-Bretonneux. He was wounded in the neck and was sent to hospital in England to recover and recuperate.

McCartin returned to France in June 1918, and in mid-August was engaged in an attack on the German lines at Herleville as part of the great allied offensive. McCartin was in charge of a company of the 22nd Battalion, and while running back to the support company’s headquarters to report the situation he was wounded several times. Though instructed to seek medical attention, McCartin instead headed back to his men, but was killed by a sniper on the way. He was just two days shy of his 24th birthday.

McCartin was given a battlefield burial, but after the war his original grave could not be found. Today he is commemorated on the Australian National Memorial at Villers-Bretonneux, along with some 10,700 other Australian soldiers who died in France and who have no known grave.

Leo McCartin’s name is listed on the Roll of Honour to my right, along with the names of more than 60,000 other Australians who died in the First World War. His photograph is displayed today beside the Pool of Reflection.

This is but one of the many stories of service and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Lieutenant Leo Aloysius McCartin, and all those Australians who have given their lives in the service of our nation.

Dr Kate Ariotti
Historian, Military History Section