The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (4428) Private Michael Anglin, 57th 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 Troy Clayton, the story for this day was on (4428) Private Michael Anglin, 57th Battalion, AIF, First World War.

4428 Private Michael Anglin, 57th Battalion, AIF
KIA 20 July 1916
No photograph in collection

Story delivered 18 July 2016

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private Michael Anglin.

Michael Anglin was born to William and Catherine Anglin of Sandhurst, Melbourne. He later moved to Bendigo and for many years worked on the Victorian Railways. Joining the Australian Imperial Force in August 1915 at the age of 39, Anglin was unmarried, and listed his sister Mary Storey as his next of kin.

Private Anglin began training with reinforcements to the 7th Battalion. He left Melbourne in January 1916 on board the troopship Themistocles, bound for Egypt. There the AIF was undergoing a period of training and reorganisation following the evacuation from Gallipoli, and as part of this process Anglin was transferred to the 57th Battalion.

He arrived in France to fight on the Western Front in late June 1916, and less than a month later the 57th Battalion went into the support lines near the French village of Fromelles. On 19 July 1916 the 5th Australian Division, together with the 61st British Division, attacked German positions near the village. The attack failed under extremely heavy German machine-gun fire, and the Australians suffered 5,533 casualties. The 57th Battalion suffered relatively few from its position in support, but the men still came under heavy artillery fire, and some were wounded or killed.

The day after the Fromelles disaster Private Anglin was in a trench with a number of mates, well behind the firing line. Sergeant Dawson later remembered the group was “in the best of spirits” when a shell burst in the rear of the trench, and the concussion killed Anglin and two others. “We were all affected over losing him,” said Dawson, “as he was a great favourite among all ranks owing to his willingness to help or do anything for his mates.”

Private Michael Anglin and the other two dead were buried in a nearby cemetery. Sergeant Dawson later wrote the following to Michael’s sister Mary:
"It may comfort you to know he died instantly and suffered no pain. Neither was he disfigured, but looked quite peaceful, and died the noblest death a man could die by giving his life, that those he left so far away may enjoy peace and happiness."

His 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 Michael Anglin, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Dr Meleah Hampton
Historian, Military History Section