The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (4741) Private William Alexander Jones, 21st 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 (4741) Private William Alexander Jones, 21st Battalion, AIF, First World War.

4741 Private William Alexander Jones, 21st Battalion, AIF
KIA 18 April 1917
No photograph in collection

Story delivered 19 December 2015

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private William Alexander Jones.

William Jones was born in 1887, the youngest son of a mining manager of Bendigo. He followed in his father’s footsteps and after completing his education went in to mining. In 1908 he was working at the Victoria Quartz mine when he and one of his close mates, William Brown, were setting charges underground. The bucket that was supposed to winch them out of the way of the blast broke, and the two men tried to climb a ladder to get out of the way. Instead, they were caught in the explosion. Brown was killed, and Jones was severely injured. It took him a long time to recover, but he later found employment at the Little 180 Mine. By 1916 he was married and had two young sons, Rex and Keith.

William Jones enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in February 1916 and was posted to the 21st Battalion. After a period of training in Australia he was sent for overseas service. On arrival in England he fell ill and spent some time recovering at the Australian Dermatological Hospital in Bulford.

Private Jones finally joined the 21st Battalion in the field in November, at the start of one of the coldest winters northern France had seen. The battalion spent much of the time rotating in and out of the front line.

In April 1917 the 21st Battalion was stationed near the village of Bécourt in France. It was providing men to carry supplies in and out of the front line and to make roads and troop accommodation in the area behind the front line. On 18 April Private Jones was a member of a working party building a road when he was killed. The exact manner of his death is not recorded, but it was likely the result of a stray shell. He was the only man from his battalion killed that day.

Private William Jones’s grave was later lost, and today he is commemorated on the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial to the Missing. He was 30 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 Alexander Jones, and all those Australians who have given their lives in the service of our nation.

Dr Meleah Hampton
Historian, Military History Section