The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (354) Private William James Pinch, 38th Battalion, First World War.

Places
Accession Number AWM2017.1.192
Collection type Film
Object type Last Post film
Physical description 16:9
Maker Australian War Memorial
Place made Australia: Australian Capital Territory, Canberra, Campbell
Date made 11 July 2017
Access Open
Conflict First World War, 1914-1918
Copyright Item copyright: © Australian War Memorial
Creative Commons License This item is licensed under CC BY-NC
Copying Provisions Copyright restrictions apply. Only personal, non-commercial, research and study use permitted. Permission of copyright holder required for any commercial use and/or reproduction.
Description

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 Chris Widenbar, the story for this day was on (354) Private William James Pinch, 38th Battalion, First World War.

Film order form
Speech transcript

354 Private William James Pinch, 38th Battalion
KIA 1 February 1917

Story delivered 11 July 2017

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private William James Pinch.

William Pinch was born in 1883 to William and Susan Pinch of Bendigo, Victoria. Little is known of his early life. In 1907 he married Lily Tozer, and the couple went on to have two children, Howard and Beryl. William Pinch was a miner, and on the outbreak of war in 1914 was working for the Hustler’s and Redan mine near Bendigo. He was described as “being of a jovial and kindly disposition” and was a man “loved by all who knew him”.

Pinch enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in February 1916 and went into the local military camp to begin his training. Before leaving for active service overseas, his friends and family held a social evening for him, during which he was presented with a military wristwatch and a number of small gifts from his many friends. He left Australia on 20 June 1916 aboard the troopship Runic with reinforcements to the 38th Battalion.

Private Pinch arrived in England in mid-August 1916 and continued training until November, when he left for France. He arrived on the Western Front just as the Battle of the Somme had ended, and winter was closing in. The winter of 1916–17 was one of the coldest on record, and the men of the 38th Battalion spent weeks rotating in and out of the front line in freezing conditions.

In early February the 38th Battalion was in the front line near the village of Houplines. Private Hessell of the 38th Battalion described what happened:
we were on duty in the front line with the rest of the boys, when Fritz started to shell us, but mostly the front line where Will was. Will was getting his steel helmet from his dugout, when a minenwerfer killed him. He never spoke.
Hessell wrote to Lily Pinch to express his remorse:
I cannot express my sorrow for you in your great loss. He was almost a brother to me, and I feel very sorry, but it is a glorious thing to know he died for King and country, while single men stay at home.
Shortly after hearing news of her husband’s death, Lily Pinch published a memorial notice in the local newspaper:
Little he thought when he bade us goodbye,
He left me for ever, left us to die;
Not even his dear lifeless form did I see,
But his sweet face clings fondly to me.
Lily Pinch was not a widow long. She died unexpectedly that September, leaving their children orphans. There was nobody to select an epitaph for William Pinch’s grave. Today he is buried in the Cite Bonjean Military Cemetery in Armentières. He was 33 years old.

His name is 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 Private William James Pinch, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Meleah Hampton
Historian, Military History Section

  • Video of The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (354) Private William James Pinch, 38th Battalion, First World War. (video)