The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (136) Driver Alexander McKernan, 3rd Field Ambulance, 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 Craig Berelle, the story for this day was on (136) Driver Alexander McKernan, 3rd Field Ambulance, AIF, First World War.

136 Driver Alexander McKernan, 3rd Field Ambulance, AIF
KIA 31 October 1917
Photograph: P05861.001

Story delivered 22 February 2016

Today we remember and pay tribute to Driver Alexander McKernan, who was killed in Belgium in the First World War.

Alex McKernan was born in 1885 to John and Matilda McKernan of Euroa in north-east Victoria. He attended state school in the Euroa district, worked as a farmer, and on the eve of the First World War was an active part-time soldier in the Victorian Mounted Rifles.

McKernan enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in Euroa in January 1915, and after a period training at Broadmeadows Camp outside Melbourne he embarked with a special reinforcement group for the 1st Australian General Hospital. As a member of the Australian Army Medical Corps, McKernan spent several months on Gallipoli as a stretcher-bearer attached to the 3rd Field Ambulance, providing basic first aid to the wounded and carrying them between regimental aid posts and advanced dressing stations. In December he was detached for duty at the Base Depot convalescent camp on the Greek island of Mudros.

The 3rd Field Ambulance later withdrew to Egypt, where the AIF underwent a major restructure before joining the fighting on the Western Front. McKernan was mustered as an ambulance wagon driver, arriving in France in April 1916. McKernan wrote to his sister describing the French countryside as a famer would ultimately see it: “The crops and spuds grow like wildfire, and beautiful crops of clover … The class of horse here is very good.”

He entered the French trenches for the first time in the relatively quiet “nursery” sector near the town of Armentières before being sent to the Somme, where he participated in the bitter fighting for Pozières and Mouquet Farm. Once the fighting on the Somme had ended McKernan was caught sleeping on duty, and once again received a field punishment.

McKernan participated in the allied advance following the German army’s withdrawal to the Hindenburg Line in early 1917. After a period of leave he re-joined his unit in Belgium as the allies launched what became known as the Third Battle of Ypres. He spent the next few months tending the wounded in the fighting at Menin Road, Broodseinde, and Zonnebeke.

McKernan was listed as missing on 31 October 1917, just as the Australians were being relieved from the front line. He had been sent on horseback to deliver a parcel to an advanced dressing station near Ypres, and was last seen returning to the wagon loading post at a position known as Crater Switch. The road was forever being shelled by German artillery, often catching the wounded and the medical staff who cared for them. McKernan’s pay book was later found on the road near where he was last seen, and a court of inquiry determined that he had been killed in action. Canadian troops later discovered his body and buried him at Potijze Chateau Grounds Cemetery. A small epitaph on his headstone reads: “Duty nobly done, sweet rest”. He was 32.

Alex McKernan’s name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my right, among more than 60,000 others from the First World War. His photograph is displayed today beside the Pool of Reflection.

This is just one of the many stories of service and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Driver Alex McKernan, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Aaron Pegram
Historian, Military History Section