The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (5758) Private Daniel Patrick Bourke 14th 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 Craig Berelle, the story for this day was on (5758) Private Daniel Patrick Bourke 14th Battalion, AIF, First World War.

5758 Private Daniel Patrick Bourke 14th Battalion, AIF
KIA 11 June 1917
Photograph: P06495.001

Story delivered 7 March 2016

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private Daniel Patrick Bourke.

Daniel Bourke was born in 1888 in Gordon, Victoria, to John and Jane Bourke. He was one of eight surviving children born to the couple.

Bourke grew up in Ballarat and attended Gordon Primary School. His life was dealt a blow at the age of ten when his mother died. He was nevertheless a good athlete and had competed in the Stawell Gift. By the time the First World War began Bourke’s father had also passed away, and he was living in Lang Lang and working as a labourer.

He enlisted for service with the AIF on 14 February 1916 and was allotted to the 18th reinforcements to the 14th Battalion. After his initial training, he embarked that May aboard the transport ship Port Lincoln.

On arrival in England, Bourke marched in to the 4th Training Battalion, where he underwent training for service on the Western Front. He sailed to France in October and, following a short stint at Étaples, joined the 14th Battalion in Belgium at the end of the month.

November saw the 14th Battalion move back south to the Somme, and by the month’s end Bourke had entered the front line for the first time near Gueudecourt. The men of the 14th Battalion spent the terrible winter of 1916–17 in and out of the front lines.

The following spring brought movement to the Western Front as the Germans withdrew to their prepared positions of the Hindenburg Line. The 14th Battalion took part in the first attempt to capture Bullecourt in April. This ended disastrously for the Australians, and the battalion moved into Belgium to support the attack on Messines as part of the 4th Brigade.

Following the successful capture of Messines in June, the 14th Battalion entered the front line near Blauwen Molen. On 11 June Bourke was hit by shrapnel and killed instantly when a German shell exploded nearby.
A mate of Bourke’s, who had been standing nearby, buried him in the shell hole. He was 28 years old.

Bourke’s final resting place was lost after the war, and his name was added to the Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing.

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

This is but one of the many stories of service and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Private Daniel Patrick Bourke, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a
better world.

Michael Kelly
Historian, Military History Section