The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (2143) Private John Manson Coats, 6th 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 Gerard Pratt, the story for this day was on (2143) Private John Manson Coats, 6th Battalion, AIF, First World War.

2143 Private John Manson Coats, 6th Battalion, AIF
KIA 29 April 1918
No photograph in collection

Story delivered 27 April 2016

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private John Manson Coats.

John Coats was born in March 1888 to Maxwell and Catherine Coats of Malvern, Victoria. He was one of seven children, and attended the Spring Road State School in Malvern. His father, Maxwell, died in 1905. John went on to work as a carter and was a member of the Loyal Toorak Lodge of the Manchester Unity Independent Order of Oddfellows, a society in which members contributed for common benefits of health and welfare. He also served with the Victorian militia for more than three years.

Coats enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on 20 April 1915. Assigned to the 6th Battalion, after a brief period of training Coats was sent to Egypt, and from there to the Gallipoli peninsula, where he landed in August 1915. The next day he was shot in the arm and evacuated.

After some time in hospital in Egypt, Private Coats was sent to England, and from there to France to fight on the Western Front. He arrived in late 1916, in time for one of the coldest winters on record. Many soldiers living outside in the rain and sometimes snow suffered from illness, and Coats was admitted to hospital in December 1916 with trench foot. By January 1917 this had become so bad that he was once again evacuated to England.

Coats spent much of 1917 in hospital, on light duties, or in training. He did not re-join his battalion until that December.

In April 1918 the 6th Battalion was in the front line near the Belgian town of Meteren. Despite serious German advances in various parts of the line, the 6th Battalion war diary recorded that they had “an uneventful tour in the line” with few casualties. Coats was one of those killed in the fighting. Little is known of the manner of his death, which came during a quiet time in the line. Today he is buried in the Outtersteene Communal Cemetery Extension. He was 30 years old.

John Coats’ name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my right, among more than 60,000 Australians who died while serving in 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 John Manson Coats, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Dr Meleah Hampton
Historian, Military History Section