The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (3447) Private Albert Charles Prentice, 50th 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 Craig Berelle, the story for this day was on (3447) Private Albert Charles Prentice, 50th Battalion, AIF, First World War.

3447 Private Albert Charles Prentice, 50th Battalion, AIF
KIA 16 August 1916
No photograph in collection

Story delivered 12 August 2016

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private Albert Charles Prentice.

Albert Prentice, known as “Paddy”, was born in 1887 in Bendigo, Victoria, to William and Elizabeth Prentice. He was educated at the local state school and went on to become a miner like his brothers and many of the other men in his family. He first worked in Bendigo, where in 1908 he married Mary Jane Whiteside. They went on to have two children, Albert and Ivy. At the outbreak of war the family were living in Adelaide while Albert worked on the mines in Broken Hill.

Prentice travelled to Adelaide to enlist in the Australian Imperial Force in July 1915. He was initially posted to the 10th Battalion, but when the AIF was reorganised in early 1916 he was transferred to the 50th Battalion. It is unclear whether or not he served on the Gallipoli Peninsula.

In August 1916 the 50th Battalion entered the front line between the French village of Pozières and the nearby Mouquet Farm. On 16 August the battalion attacked a section of German trench in the direction of the farm, under some of the heaviest shell-fire seen on the Western Front.

Private Prentice was never seen again. There were several differing reports of his disappearance: one that he had been making his way back wounded; one that he had been firing a trench mortar; and one that he had simply been out in no man’s land. All agreed, however, that he was killed by an artillery shell that burst nearby. Albert Prentice’s body was never recovered, and today he is commemorated on the Memorial to the Missing at Villers-Bretonneux. He was 28 years old.

Albert Prentice was one of three brothers to serve during the First World War. His brother John was shot through the jaw on Gallipoli, and was eventually invalided home, while George Prentice was killed in action in 1918.

In August 1919, after the war had ended, Albert’s widow and children put the following notice in the newspaper:
"‘Tis just three years ago to-day
Since he was laid in a soldier’s grave
To help Australia’s gallant band.
His heart was brave, he knew no fear
And freedom’s cause to him was dear.
The soul of his country swells with pride
With the deeds he did and the death he died."

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 Albert Charles Prentice, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Dr Meleah Hampton
Historian, Military History Section