The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (1149) Private Tresselyn Jones, 36th 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 (1149) Private Tresselyn Jones, 36th Battalion, AIF, First World War.

1149 Private Tresselyn Jones, 36th Battalion, AIF
DOD 23 May 1916
No photograph in collection

Story delivered 16 February 2016

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private Tresselyn Jones.

Tress Jones was born in 1889 to Owen and Emmeline Jones of Maclean, New South Wales. He became well known in Grafton and on the Orara, where he worked as a labourer in the district. He was described as “a typical young Australian, strong and active, resourceful and self-reliant, fearless and dauntless”, said to possess “many of the qualities that distinguish the fighting Anzacs”. Jones was reported to be a “dashing horseman, able to handle anything that ever was lapped in horsehide, with enough of the dare-all to lead a most forlorn hope with all the dash of victory”.

In 1916 Tress Jones joined the North Coast Boomerang recruitment march, leaving Grafton on 18 January and enlisting at Coffs Harbour a few days later. At his farewell function in Grafton he gave a speech, saying “that he had heard the Empire call, and was going off to do his whack to win the victory – and if he was killed out there, well, a man must die somewhere”. He added, “I don’t believe they’ll score a hit on me.”

Jones was posted to the 36th Battalion and underwent a period of training in Australia before leaving for overseas service on the troopship Beltana on 13 May 1916.

Within days of putting out to sea, Jones fell ill with measles. On 23 May 1916, just ten days after leaving Australia, he died of pneumonia and measles. He was wrapped in a flag and buried at sea.

In July 1916 Jones’s parents put a memorial notice in the paper:

He rose, responsive to his country’s call.
He gave for her his life, his best, his all.

Tress Jones was 27 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 Tresselyn Jones, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Dr Meleah Hampton
Historian, Military History Section