The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (2706) Second Lieutenant Walter Harry Wilsdon DCM, 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 Dennis Stockman, the story for this day was on (2706) Second Lieutenant Walter Harry Wilsdon DCM, 10th Battalion, AIF, First World War.

2706 Second Lieutenant Walter Harry Wilsdon DCM, 10th Battalion, AIF
KIA 9 October 1917
No photograph in collection

Story delivered 5 March 2017

Today we remember and pay tribute to Second Lieutenant Walter Harry Wilsdon DCM.

Walter Wilsdon was born on 18 February 1893 in Caltowie, South Australia, to Charles and Amy Wilsdon. He was the first of seven children. He attended Caltowie Public School, and afterwards worked as a farm labourer. Wilsdon was a popular member of the Caltowie Cricket and Australian Rules football clubs, and taught at the Methodist Sunday School. He was also an active member of the Methodist Guild.

Wilsdon enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force at Oaklands on 31 December 1914. He underwent initial training at the Australian Army Medical Corps depot in Adelaide before being posted as a stretcher-bearer to B Section of the 4th Light Horse Field Ambulance.

Wilsdon embarked from Adelaide in late June 1915 aboard the transport ship Borda, bound for Egypt. In early March 1916 he transferred to the 3rd Field Ambulance, and at the end of the month sailed with his unit to France.

Wilsdon saw his first major battle at Pozières. On 23 July he and another man went forward to bring back wounded men from the front-line trenches occupied by the 11th Battalion. They could not move through the congested communication trenches, so instead climbed into open country to get to the front line. Advancing under heavy shell-fire, they made many trips to rescue the wounded under heavy artillery fire. Both were later awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal.

After enduring the terrible winter of 1916 Wilsdon was sent to England to attend officer training school. He had been promoted to lance corporal in early August, and having successfully completed the officer training course was commissioned as a second lieutenant. On returning to France in mid-August he was posted to the 10th Battalion and joined C Company as a platoon commander.

Wilsdon took part in the battles of Menin Road and Polygon Wood, and his battalion played a supporting role during the capture of Broodseinde Ridge on 4 October, but only days later the battalion was back in the front line.

On 9 October the 10th Battalion was ordered to raid Celtic Wood. C Company was tasked with the raid, although numbers had to be supplemented by volunteers from other companies. Wilsdon and his platoon were on the left of the line, and as the raiders began their advance on Celtic Wood the men came under immediate fire from German machine-guns.

There are varying accounts of Wilsdon’s death, but it is believed that the initial German machine-gun fire devastated the two platoons on the left as the raid began. Among the dead was Second Lieutenant Walter Wilsdon. He was 24 years old.

Wilsdon’s remains were never recovered, and as a result his name was added to the Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing.

His name is also listed on the Roll of Honour on my right, among more than 60,000 Australians who died while serving in 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 Second Lieutenant Walter Harry Wilsdon DCM, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Michael Kelly
Historian, Military History Section