The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (5063) Private Roland Clarence Carman, 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 Troy Clayton, the story for this day was on (5063) Private Roland Clarence Carman, 10th Battalion, AIF, First World War.

5063 Private Roland Clarence Carman, 10th Battalion, AIF
KIA 8 April 1917
No photograph in collection

Story delivered 12 January 2016

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private Roland Clarence Carman.

Roland Carman was born in Port Broughton, South Australia, to David and Elizabeth Carman. They were a farming family and Roland attended school at the Keilli and Ward’s Hill Public Schools. He worked on the farm, and in late 1914 went to Western Australia to work on his uncle’s farm for 12 months before returning to South Australia. He was a member of the Ward’s Hill Methodist church, and the Port Broughton Rifle Club. He was known to be “a crack rifle shot, a fine footballer, and good on the tennis court”.

Roland was the second of David and Elizabeth Carman’s three eligible sons to enlist in the Australian Imperial Force. His brothers Clement and David joined in February 1915 and August 1916, while Roland enlisted in January 1916 after having been turned down once for varicose veins. He was posted to the 10th Battalion and underwent training in Australia, Egypt, and England before being sent to France to fight on the Western Front in August 1916.

Private Roland Carman never left his battalion again. He served with them on the Somme, and during the brutally cold winter of 1916–17, without incident. In April 1917, having followed the German retreat to the Hindenburg Line, the 10th Battalion was in the front lines near the French village of Louverval.

At 3 am on 8 April 1917 the battalion advanced against German-held positions. One company in particular met with strong opposition and suffered heavy casualties. One of those killed was Private Roland Carman. Little is known of the manner of his death; in the confusion of the heavy fighting, his body was lost and he has no known grave. He was 23 years old.

All three of David and Elizabeth’s enlisted sons would die in the war. Clement Carman went missing at Flers in November 1916, and was later declared dead. David Carman was killed at Villers-Bretonneux in April 1918.

The names of Roland, Clement, and David Carman are listed on the Roll of Honour on my right, along with 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 Roland Clarence Carman, his brothers Lance Corporal Clement Claude Carman and Private David William Carman, and all those Australians who have given their lives in the service of our nation.

Dr Meleah Hampton
Historian, Military History Section