The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (6526) Private David Jamphrey Fealy, 20th 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 (6526) Private David Jamphrey Fealy, 20th Battalion, AIF, First World War.

6526 Private David Jamphrey Fealy, 20th Battalion, AIF
KIA 8 October 1917
No photograph in collection

Story delivered 24 September 2016

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private David Jamphrey Fealey.

David Fealy was born in 1888, the youngest son of George and Margaret Fealy of Eldorado, Victoria. Eldorado was a gold rush town, and George Fealy became one of its leading businessmen at the height of its popularity. David was the last of a large number of children born to the couple. In 1904 his brother George’s son was killed when he accidentally fell down a well, and in 1914 his brother Edward died unexpectedly from pneumonia.

David later moved to New South Wales, where he lived near his brother George and worked as a baker at Oaklands. He owned his own business and was considered an expert baker. At the outbreak of war he wanted to enlist. He tried to sell his business first but eventually chose to leave it in the hands of George, enlisting in the Australian Imperial Force in December 1916.

David Fealy was posted to the 20th Battalion and, after a period of training in Australia, left Sydney on board the troopship Anchises in January 1917. He continued his training in England for several months before joining his battalion on the Western Front in France in late August 1917.

Around five weeks later the 20th Battalion entered the front line near the Belgian town of Ypres. The battalion supplied carrying parties to get supplies forward in preparation for a large assault to take place on 9 October. The day before the attack went ahead, Private David Fealy was killed in action. The carrying parties from his battalion came under heavy machine-gun and artillery fire, and Private Fealy was almost certainly killed by one or the other.

Fealy’s body was never recovered from the battlefield, and today he is commemorated on the Menin Gate Memorial in Ypres. He was 29 years old.

He was not the only member of his family to die during the First World War. His brother Fred was killed a few months later, aged 32.

David Fealy’s 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 David Jamphrey Fealey, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Dr Meleah Hampton
Historian, Military History Section