The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (2726a) Sergeant William Francis Jones, 7th 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 Charis May, the story for this day was on (2726a) Sergeant William Francis Jones, 7th Battalion, AIF, First World War.

2726a Sergeant William Francis Jones, 7th Battalion, AIF
KIA 4 October 1917
No photograph in collection

Story delivered 24 February 2016

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

William Jones was born in Newtown, Sydney, in 1895. His family moved to Melbourne when he was a boy, and he attended the Christian Brothers’ East School in St Kilda. Jones was very musical, and also athletic. He also had a keen interest in photography, and served as a corporal and sergeant in the Australian Military Forces for a number of years. He later moved to Victoria to work for biscuit manufacturers Swallow and Ariell.

Jones enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in July 1915, and was posted to the 6th reinforcements to the 21st Battalion. After a period of training in Australia he was sent to Egypt for further training. There he was transferred to the 7th Battalion and promoted to corporal. He was sent to France to fight on the Western Front in March 1916. There he fought through the battles at Pozières in July and August and proved himself an able soldier. In October he was promoted to sergeant, and became known in his battalion as “the musical sergeant”.

The winter of 1916–17 was one of the coldest on record, and Jones’s battalion spent the cold months rotating in and out of the front line. By February his feet were suffering from the constant cold and wet, and he spent a short period in hospital being treated for a septic foot.

In May 1917 the 7th Battalion was withdrawn from the front line for training, not returning to action until September. On 20 September the battalion attacked near Polygon Wood in Belgium. There Sergeant Jones showed “exceptional ability in handling his platoon when his commander was wounded”, and this was considered critical to the platoon’s successful advance. For this Jones was awarded the Military Medal.

On 4 October Sergeant Jones was in the front line near Zonnebeke when he was struck by a shell and severely wounded. Eyewitnesses said he lasted only a few minutes before succumbing to his wounds. His company commander, who had just recommended Jones for a commission, wrote to the bereaved father:

such men as [Jones] are a distinct loss to any company or battalion, and I personally feel his loss. It was his and other NCOs’ good, capable leading that gave us our two recent successes.

Sergeant Jones was buried near where he was killed, but his grave was later lost and he now has no known resting place. He was 22 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 Francis 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