The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (450) Private Eric Ralf Goode, 10th 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 Meredith Duncan, the story for this day was on (450) Private Eric Ralf Goode, 10th Battalion, AIF, First World War.

450 Private Eric Ralf Goode, 10th Battalion, AIF
KIA 27 April 1915
No photograph in collection

Story delivered 19 April 2016

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private Eric Ralf Goode.

Eric Goode was born on 30 May 1893 to William and Marion Goode of Port Pirie, South Australia. William Goode had come to South Australia in 1858 as a young man and opened a business in Port Pirie. He soon became a pillar of the community, played an integral role in securing trade from Broken Hill to the port at Pirie instead of Adelaide, and contributed to the community in myriad ways, from serving as mayor and councillor to judging horses in the local show. Eric Goode attended Mr Byrne’s private school in the congregational schoolroom, completing his education at Prince Alfred College in Adelaide and going to work as a clerk. His father died suddenly in 1910.

Goode enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force shortly after the outbreak of war in 1914. He was posted to the 10th Battalion and underwent a brief period of training in Australia before embarking for service overseas. The first contingent was originally bound for Europe, but a change of plan meant they were sent to Egypt instead in preparing for an assault on the Ottoman Empire.

In the early hours of 25 April 1915 men of the 10th Battalion rowed silently towards the Turkish shore at what would become known as Anzac Cove. The war diary of the battalion recorded the landing:

"no sound was heard, except the splash of the oars; we thought that our landing was to be effected quite unopposed, but when our boats were within about 30 yards of the beach a rifle was fired from the hill in front of us above the beach, right in front of where we were heading for. Almost immediately heavy rifle and machine gun fire was opened upon us."

The men of the 10th Battalion dashed for the heights above the beach. Some reached the farthest inland that day, but had to pull back owing to Turkish fire and a lack of support.

The days following the landing were confused; muddled battalions attempted to reorganise and to establish a front line. At some point during these early days Private Eric Goode was killed in action. No
record survives of the manner of his death, but he was declared killed in action on 27 April 1915. His body was never recovered, and today he is commemorated on the Memorial to the Missing at Lone Pine. He was 22
years old.

Eric Goode’s elder brother Gordon also enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in 1914. He died of enteric fever in Egypt in October 1915.

Private Goode’s 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 Eric Ralf Goode, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a
better world.

Dr Meleah Hampton
Historian, Military History Section