The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (428) Private Matthew Garr, 47th 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 (428) Private Matthew Garr, 47th Battalion, AIF, First World War.

428 Private Matthew Garr, 47th Battalion, AIF
KIA 29 September 1917
Photograph: H06115

Story delivered 10 June 2016

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private Matthew Garr.

Born Martien Mateo Ga on 2 July 1889 on Thursday Island, to Carlos Ga, a Filipino immigrant, and Mary Ann Bunyan, a Welsh immigrant, Matthew Garr was the third of 14 children. He grew up at the Bathurst Mission on Thursday Island. At the outbreak of the First World War he was married with a daughter, and he and his brothers were all employed as labourers on Thursday Island.

Garr enlisted in Darwin along with one of his younger brothers, Palencio, on 6 October 1915. Both were assigned to the 4th Darwin Contingent. Another brother, William, had already left Australia with reinforcements for the 9th Battalion, and a fourth, Glamor, joined the 26th Battalion in November.

A farewell event was held at the Darwin Town Hall for the men of the 4th Darwin Contingent, including the Garr brothers and two other Filipino Australians. The contingent then sailed to Brisbane, where the men were transferred to the Enoggera Barracks.

After his initial training, Garr was posted to the newly raised 41st Battalion. His brother, however, could not adapt to the rigours of training and was discharged in May 1916 as unsuitable for service. He did not return to Darwin and died a year later in Queensland, aged 25.

In May 1916 Garr embarked with the 41st Battalion aboard the transport ship Demosthenes, bound for England. During the voyage he was charged and fined for breaking out of his quarters while on active service.

In England Garr was taken on strength with the 12th Training Battalion and underwent further training for operations on the Western Front. At the end of September he was sent to France and transferred to the 47th Battalion, joining it on the field in October.

In November Garr was hospitalised with a fever. Around this time Garr’s brother William, now serving with the 4th Pioneer Battalion, was killed by a shell while working on repairing tramlines at Decauville, France.

Garr again fell ill and was transferred to England for recovery. It wasn’t until May 1917 that he re-joined his battalion. He took part in his first battle at Messines in June, and in the battle of Menin Road and Polygon Wood in September.

At the end of the month, the 47th Battalion was in the front line in support trenches on Westhoek Ridge. Men of the battalion were engaged on working parties, burying cables and digging in water pipes in preparation for the next phase of the offensive. On 29 September Garr was killed by shell-fire. He was 28 years old.

Garr was buried near the block house known as Anzac House at Zonnebeke. His grave could not be located after the war and his name was added to the Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing in Ypres.

Of the three brothers sent on overseas service, only Glamor Garr returned to Darwin after the war. He had received the Military Medal for his bravery as a runner during an attack south of Villers-Bretonneux in July 1918.

Matthew Garr’s name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my right, along with around 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 Matthew Garr, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Michael Kelly
Historian, Military History Section