The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (5046) Lance Corporal Lionel Wallace Landon, 35th Battalion, AIF, First World War.

Places
Accession Number AWM2016.2.245
Collection type Film
Object type Last Post film
Physical description 16:9
Maker Australian War Memorial
Place made Australia: Australian Capital Territory, Canberra, Campbell
Date made 1 September 2016
Access Open
Conflict First World War, 1914-1918
Copyright Item copyright: © Australian War Memorial
Creative Commons License This item is licensed under CC BY-NC
Copying Provisions Copyright restrictions apply. Only personal, non-commercial, research and study use permitted. Permission of copyright holder required for any commercial use and/or reproduction.
Description

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 (5046) Lance Corporal Lionel Wallace Landon, 35th Battalion, AIF, First World War.

Film order form
Speech transcript

5046 Lance Corporal Lionel Wallace Landon, 35th Battalion, AIF
KIA 22 August 1918
Photograph: P08624.273

Story delivered 1 September 2016

Today we remember and pay tribute to Lance Corporal Lionel Wallace Landon, who was killed while fighting in France in the First World War.

Lionel Landon was born in 1893 to George and Isabella Landon. He was born in Bombala, New South Wales, where he later attended the Rosemeath School. The Landon family later moved to Auburn, Sydney, where Lionel worked as a railway porter.

Lionel’s brother Henry, a school teacher, enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in 1915, and Lionel followed his example by enlisting in February 1916. He underwent a period of training in Australia, and did not leave for active service overseas until July 1916. He was posted to the 35th Battalion, and was first sent to England, where he continued training. He spent some time in hospital before being sent to France to fight on the Western Front in November 1916.

The following year Landon spent some time detached for duty with First Army, and with the forestry company of the Royal Engineers. Towards the end of the year he was hospitalised with a septic wound on his hand. Following his recovery he rejoined the 35th Battalion on the Western Front.

Landon again spent time away from his battalion in March 1918, when he was detached for duty to the 3rd Division headquarters for a few weeks. In July 1918 he was promoted to lance corporal and underwent a training course before re-joining his battalion. At the time the battalion was operating on the Somme, and undertook a small-scale operation to make the most of success near the French village of Hamel on 4 July 1918.

Just under three weeks after he re-joined his battalion, Lance Corporal Landon took part in an attack near the French village of Bray-sur-Somme. Landon was serving as section corporal in the 13th Platoon of B Company. After the battalion captured their objective, he was a member of a party sent forward of the new front line to establish a machine-gun post in a shell hole. As they worked they came under fire. Landon was shot through the heart, and died no more than a minute later.

Later, Sergeant William Dark reported that he had been with Landon when he was hit. Dark had asked him, “Has he got you, Wally?”, to which Landon replied, “He’s got me, Sergeant.” Those were his last words. Sergeant Dark said Landon “met his death as bravely as any man I ever saw”, going on to describe him as “a splendid soldier … a fine big fellow, well made, and … a perfectly clean living man, being a credit to the AIF uniform”. Landon was buried later that night, but his grave was later lost. Today he is commemorated on the Australian National Memorial at Villers-Bretonneux.

His name is also listed on the Roll of Honour on my right, among more than 60,000 Australians who died during 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 Lance Corporal Lionel Wallace Landon, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Dr Meleah Hampton
Historian, Military History Section

  • Video of The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (5046) Lance Corporal Lionel Wallace Landon, 35th Battalion, AIF, First World War. (video)