The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (4774) Private Thomas Edward Costello 12th 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 (4774) Private Thomas Edward Costello 12th Battalion, AIF, First World War.

4774 Private Thomas Edward Costello 12th Battalion, AIF
KIA 5–8 May 1917
No photograph in collection

Story delivered 12 April 2016

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private Thomas Edward Costello.

Thomas Costello was born on 20 May 1895 in Barrington, Tasmania, to Phillip and Harriet Costello. He was one of 12 siblings, and was working as a farm labourer when the First World War began.

Costello enlisted for service in the Australian Imperial Force on 22 November 1915. He trained for several months at the Claremont depot at Broadmeadows Camp in Victoria. Here he became part of the 15th reinforcements to the 12th Battalion.

Costello embarked from Melbourne in February 1916 aboard the transport ship Ballarat. Arriving first in Egypt, at the end of May he and his fellow reinforcements travelled to France and were sent to the 1st Australian Division’s Base Depot for further training. It was not until early August that Costello finally joined his battalion.

Over the next month the 12th Battalion moved into Belgium and the relatively quiet Ypres Salient. The men spent several months here before returning the Somme for what would be one of the coldest winters ever recorded in Europe.

When the Germans withdrew to the Hindenburg Line in the early months of 1917, the 12th Battalion was involved in pursuing them. It fought several actions during this time, including the allies’ second attempt to capture the fortified town of Bullecourt, withstanding heavy German artillery barrages and several counter-attacks.

Somewhere between 5 and 8 May, Costello was killed. The manner of his death was not recorded and his body was never recovered. After the war, his name was added to the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial to the Missing.

Private Costello’s name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my right, along with more than 60,000 others from 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 Thomas Edward Costello, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Michael Kelly
Historian, Military History Section