The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (63) Private Francis Gilbert Evans, 10th 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 (63) Private Francis Gilbert Evans, 10th Battalion, AIF, First World War.

63 Private Francis Gilbert Evans, 10th Battalion, AIF
KIA 31 May 1915
No photograph in collection

Story delivered 16 January 2017

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private Francis Gilbert Evans.

Frank Evans was born to John and Jane Evans of Adelaide on 14 February 1894, the second youngest of seven children. He attended the Gilles Street School, and went on to become an electrician. Evans was also a keen member of the military cadets, and rose to the rank of sergeant in the 3rd Battalion of the Commonwealth Military Cadet Corps.

Evans enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force within weeks of the outbreak of war. He was posted to the 10th Battalion and underwent a period of training in Australian before being sent for overseas service. The first contingent was originally bound for Europe, but a change of plan saw them sent to Egypt in preparation to meet the threat which the Ottoman Turks posed to British interests in the Middle East and the Suez Canal. The deployment was to assist a British naval operation which aimed to force the Dardanelles Strait and capture the Turkish capital, Constantinople.

In the early hours of the 25th of April 1915, the men of the 10th Battalion rowed silently towards the Turkish shore at what would become known as Anzac Cove – a small cove on the Gallipoli peninsula, only 600 metres long, and within a kilometre of the front line. The war diary of the battalion reads:

no sound was heard, except the splash of the oars; we thought that our landing was to be effected quite unopposed, but when our boats were within about 30 yards of the beach a rifle was fired from the hill in front of us above the beach, right in front of where we were heading for. Almost immediately heavy rifle and machine gun fire was opened upon us.

The prospect of landing under fire had not been anticipated, so the battalion was unprepared for such an undertaking. The men finished rowing to the shore and dashed for the heights above the beach. Some men of the 10th Battalion reached the farthest inland that day, but had to pull back due to a lack of support.

Evans survived the frantic activity of the landing and the days after, including the Ottoman counter-attack that attempted to push the Australians and New Zealanders “back into the sea”. However, towards the end of May, just weeks after arriving on the peninsula, he was severely wounded. He was evacuated and sent to hospital in Malta, on his way to England. He never made it, dying in Malta a week after his arrival.

Frank Evans was 21 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 Private Francis Gilbert Evans, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Dr Meleah Hampton
Historian, Military History Section