The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (2342A) Private Louis Braganza, 9th 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 Smeadley, the story for this day was on (2342A) Private Louis Braganza, 9th Battalion, AIF, First World War.

2342A Private Louis Braganza, 9th Battalion, AIF
DOW 4 July 1916
No photograph in collection

Story delivered 20 February 2016
Today we remember and pay tribute to Private Louis Braganza.

Louis Braganza was born in 1885 in Inverell, New South Wales, to Louis and Christina Braganza. By the time the First World War began his father had passed away and Braganza was living at Goodna, Queensland, and working as a freezer.

Braganza enlisted in Brisbane on 9 August 1915, and after his initial training was allotted to the 5th reinforcements to the 25th Battalion. He embarked from Brisbane in October aboard the transport ship Warilda, bound for Egypt.

After disembarking in Alexandria, Braganza was sent to the 7th Training Battalion at Zeitoun. He was transferred to the 9th Battalion at Habieta at the end of February 1916 and a month later sailed with the battalion to France.

The 9th Battalion was initially sent to the quieter “nursery sector” around Armentières and went into the front line for the first time in May. The next month a raiding party was organised for 1 July and intense training began. On the night of the raid five men withdrew from the party, and Braganza was one of those asked to take their places, despite not having been involved in any of the training.

Braganza was in the centre company, and after entering the German trenches he was involved in fierce hand-to-hand fighting with the enemy. He was severely wounded, and when the signal to retire was given the raiders withdrew, leaving Braganza and several other casualties behind.

The Germans took Braganza and several other men prisoner, and he was transferred to the German 9th Field Hospital at Haubourdin. On 4 July and in spite of Braganza’s condition he was questioned by a German intelligence officer. Although the severity of his wounds was not noted, the intelligence mentioned that “the prisoner was in great pain and was very weak”, and that at several points it was considered necessary to cease the interrogation “and to confine it to the most important points”.

This gentle approach by Braganza’s captors yielded some valuable intelligence. However, his condition continued to deteriorate and he died that afternoon. He was 31 years old.

Braganza was laid to rest in the Haubourdin Communal Cemetery. After the war his remains were exhumed and transferred from Germany to France, where he was interred in the Cabaret Rouge British Cemetery, north of Arras.
Braganza’s name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my right, among 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 Louis Braganza, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Michael Kelly
Historian, Military History Section