The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (932) Driver William Thomas Mantall, 110th Australian Howitzer Battery, 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 Gerard Pratt, the story for this day was on (932) Driver William Thomas Mantall, 110th Australian Howitzer Battery, First World War

932 Driver William Thomas Mantall, 110th Australian Howitzer Battery
KIA 14 June 1917
No photograph in collection

Story delivered 19 December 2016

Today we remember and pay tribute to Driver William Thomas Mantall.

William Mantall was born in Melbourne to John and Kate Mantall. He enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in September 1914 with his father’s permission, as he was under 21 at the time, giving his occupation as horse driver. The local newspaper later described him as:
every inch a soldier. And there were more inches of him than there are of most young men. He was 6 feet 1 inch in his stockings … the epitome of cheerfulness … a straight-goer and a sticker.

Mantall was posted to the 1st Light Horse Regiment and underwent training in both Australia and Egypt. Shortly after the dawn landing on Gallipoli the decision was made to send in the men of the light horse, unmounted, to reinforce the badly pressed infantry at Anzac. Mantall left Alexandria for Gallipoli in May 1915.

He served for several weeks before contracting enteric fever and being sent to hospital first in Malta and then England. He spent many months recovering before he was able to re-join his unit in Egypt in March 1916. Less than a month later he transferred to the artillery and was posted to the 110th Howitzer Battery.

Mantall arrived in France in June 1916 and was posted as driver in his artillery battery, serving with them for the rest of the year. In January 1917 his father, John, enlisted, explaining that he was “keenly anxious to again see his fine big son”, and “to take part in the struggle”. Private John Mantall, aged 44, was posted to the pioneers.

For William, life in the artillery was dangerous. Enemy artillery was constantly aiming for Australian guns, hoping to put them out of action, while the men were handling explosives and other dangerous material on a daily basis.

On 14 June 1917 Mantall’s battery was stationed near Messines in Belgium. A dump of ammunition stood nearby to supply the guns. When a German shell hit this dump, it went up in a massive explosion. Sixteen men were killed outright, and another nine were wounded, of which three died of their wounds.

Driver Mantall was one of those killed in the blast. His name appears on a nearby monument erected by his comrades. His father had been in training camp in England, and had yet to see his son. William’s mother received the news of her son’s death, and immediately wrote to her husband to inform him of their loss. John survived the war, and returned to Australia in early 1918.

William Mantall was buried in Kandahar Farm Cemetery in Belgium. He was 24 years old.

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 Driver William Thomas Mantall, and all those Australians who have given their lives in the service of our nation.

Dr Meleah Hampton
Historian, Military History Section