The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (NX141715) Corporal William Barclay Cousins, 1 Engineer Training Battalion, AIF, Second 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 Richard Cruise, the story for this day was on (NX141715) Corporal William Barclay Cousins, 1 Engineer Training Battalion, AIF, Second World War.

NX141715 Corporal William Barclay Cousins, 1 Engineer Training Battalion, AIF
Accidentally killed 21 May 1945
Photograph: P03914.007

Story delivered 18 January 2017

Today we pay tribute to Corporal William Barclay Cousins, who was killed in the service of the Royal Australian Engineers during the Second World War.

Born in Young, New South Wales, on 29 October 1920, William Cousins was the son of William and Mabel Cousins.

The family lived on a property at Maryvale, near Wellington in New South Wales, where Cousins worked as a farmer. He was a popular member of the community.

Cousins volunteered for the Second Australian Imperial Force on 1 October 1941, less than a month after Prime Minister Robert Menzies announced Australia’s involvement in the Second World War. After training he was posted to the Royal Australian Engineers. Promoted to the rank of corporal, he spent four months in 1943 serving overseas in New Guinea.

Following his return home to Australia Cousins was posted as a training instructor to the 1st Training Battalion, Royal Australian Engineers, at the large army training base at Kapooka, near Wagga Wagga in New South Wales.

On the afternoon of 21 May 1945, two groups were crowded in a dug-out during a routine demolition training exercise on the preparation of hand charges. One group consisted of 22 trainees and two instructors, while the other contained three men and one instructor. Also inside the dug-out were 110 pounds of explosives stored for that day’s training exercise. In circumstances that remain unknown, the explosives ignited and exploded. Twenty-four men were killed instantly, two died of injuries shortly afterwards, and two more were severely injured.

Corporal William Barclay Cousins was one of those killed in the accident. He was 24 years old.

A mass funeral was held for the men in Wagga Wagga on 24 May. Thousands of people lined the route of the funeral parade. The 26 flag-draped coffins were carried on four army trucks in a cortége that included more than 100 military vehicles carrying members of the army and air force. The dead were buried in the Wagga Wagga War Cemetery.

Cousins’s name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my left, among some 40,000 Australians who died while serving in the Second World War. His photograph is displayed today by 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 Corporal William Barclay Cousins, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Dr Lachlan Grant
Military History Section