The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of Second Lieutenant HaroldLeslie Parry, 11th Battalion, AIF, First World War.

Places
Accession Number AWM2017.1.236
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 24 August 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 Troy Clayton, the story for this day was on Second Lieutenant HaroldLeslie Parry, 11th Battalion, AIF, First World War.

Film order form
Speech transcript

Second Lieutenant HaroldLeslie Parry, 11th Battalion, AIF
KIA 28 June 1915

Story delivered 24 August 2017

Today we remember and pay tribute to Second Lieutenant Harold Leslie Parry.

Harold Parry – who went by his middle name, Leslie – was born in 1889, the fourth son of Henry and Minnie Parry of Western Australia. Harold was the grandson of the late Henry Parry, Bishop of Perth, and Sir Malcolm Fraser, the former Colonial Secretary of Western Australia. Little is known of his early life, but sources suggest that he trained as an optometrist, and followed agricultural pursuits before going on to work in the accounts branch of the Railway Department at Midland Junction.

Parry enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force shortly after the outbreak of war in 1914. He was posted to the 11th Battalion as a private and left for active service overseas with the first contingent. The battalion spent some time in Egypt training before embarking for their first major operation. During this time Parry was promoted to sergeant and given charge of No. 3 Platoon.

The 11th Battalion landed at Anzac Cove in the early hours of 25 April 1915. The men rowed ashore under heavy fire before storming the cliffs. Very quickly the battalion became disorganised, and over the next few days small parties of men dug trenches under heavy fire to establish a line of defence. During this time Sergeant Parry performed so admirably that, three days after the landing, he was commissioned second lieutenant.

On 28 June 1915 the 11th Battalion supported a small operation of the 9th Battalion designed to prevent the Turks from sending reinforcements to the south. The 11th Battalion was charged with firing on the Turkish trenches from their own position. In order to get a better line of sight to the enemy position, a significant portion of the 11th advanced a small way from their support trench to fire, leaving them out
in the open. The Turks opened fire on them with shrapnel, causing a number of casualties.

Three officers and 18 other ranks of the 11th Battalion were killed in action that day, and more than 40 were wounded. One of those killed was Second Lieutenant Leslie Parry. Little is known of the exact manner of his death, but it was most likely to have occurred during the Turkish shelling.

Today Leslie Parry is buried in Shell Green Cemetery on the Gallipoli Peninsula. He was 30 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 Second Lieutenant Harold Leslie Parry, 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 Second Lieutenant HaroldLeslie Parry, 11th Battalion, AIF, First World War. (video)