Places | |
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Accession Number | AWM2017.1.241 |
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 | 29 August 2017 |
Access | Open |
Conflict |
First World War, 1914-1918 |
Copyright |
Item copyright: © Australian War Memorial![]() |
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. |
The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (89) Trooper Francis “Frank” McMahon, 10th Light Horse Regiment, 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 (89) Trooper Francis “Frank” McMahon, 10th Light Horse Regiment, AIF, First World War.
Film order form89 Trooper Francis “Frank” McMahon, 10th Light Horse Regiment, AIF
KIA 29 August 1915
Story delivered 29 August 2017
Today we remember and pay tribute to Trooper Francis McMahon.
Popularly known as “Frank”, Francis McMahon was born on 1 June 1894 in Tongala, Victoria, to Thomas and Alice McMahon. He was the sixth of seven children born to the couple.
Francis grew up in Tongala and Underra, where he attended the local schools. In early June 1906 his mother, having suffered ill-health for some years, died from pneumonia. Two months later, his father died from heart failure. Now orphaned, Frank and three of his siblings went to live with an uncle and aunt on a property in Tongala, where they remained for five years.
In 1911 Frank McMahon went to live with his brother Ned at Kellerberrin in Western Australia. Here he worked as a crop harvester, using horse teams and a steam traction engine. He was also a member of the local fire brigade.
Following the outbreak of the First World War, McMahon enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on 6 October at Guildford, Western Australia, joining the newly-raised 10th Light Horse Regiment.
He embarked with his unit from Fremantle on 8 February 1915 aboard the transport ship Mashobra, bound for Egypt. While he was engaged in training in Egypt, the Gallipoli campaign began.
With the Australians suffering heavy casualties, the men of the light horse were ordered to Gallipoli. The men of the 10th Light Horse Regiment landed at Anzac late in the afternoon of the 21st of May.
For the remainder of the month, the regiment rotated through the front-line positions of Quinn’s Post, Courtney’s Post, and Pope’s Hill. At the start of June the regiment moved to Walker’s Ridge below the Nek.
Illness hit the regiment hard throughout July, and by the end of the month McMahon had been evacuated to hospital with influenza. He returned to his unit on 9 August, the day after his regiment had been decimated in the disastrous attack at the Nek.
In the evening of 27 August, the 10th Light Horse Regiment left Walker’s Ridge and made its way to Number 6 Post, below Hill 60. The following day, plans were laid out and preparations made
At 1am on 29 August the light horsemen began their attack. They soon captured a stretch of the Ottoman trench line. McMahon was in a party led by Lieutenant Hugo Throssell, who formed a bomb stop at the extreme right of the captured line and held position for six hours against several counter attacks and an incessant hail of bombs. As quick as the bombs landed in the trench, the Australians would throw them back, as well as throwing over their own bombs.
With the sun coming up, the Ottoman troops began another attack on the Australian positions. Lieutenant Throssell wrote of what happened next:
As the Turks were making one of their charges in the early morning we saw a German officer picking up clods of earth and throwing them at the Turks to urge them on to the charge. Ferrier and McMahon put their rifles up and got a sight of the German against the skyline, and fired simultaneously. One or both of them got him, and, of course, both claimed it. McMahon said: “It has been my ambition ever since I enlisted to get a German officer, now I am satisfied.” He rose up to get another shot, and a bullet went clean through his bead. As he fell back a Turkish bomb crushed into the trench, and exploding over him, blew him to pieces.
McMahon was 21 years old.
From his bed on the hospital ship, Throssell wrote to his commanding officer regarding the four men who had served alongside him during their epic fight.
I want you, Sir, to recommend Corporal Ferrier, Trooper McMahon, Private Renton, and Corporal McNee for some special distinction. McMahon was killed, Ferrier had his arm amputated and died on the boat, Renton had his leg taken off at the thigh, and McNee was twice wounded in the head and once in the hand. In my opinion no honor could be too high … The fact that we held the trench is, in my opinion, largely due to the splendid courage and accurate bombing of these glorious men.
In 1916, McMahon was mentioned in Sir Ian Hamilton’s dispatches for his gallant efforts.
On 17 November, following a short advance at Hill 60 by members of the 1st Battalion, 1st Welsh Horse Yeomanry, Sergeant J. Varley came across an Australian’s body in a gully. On searching the body, the sergeant located McMahon’s paybook which contained an intact will with his brother’s address. The sergeant wrote to Ned stating that:
I found your brother’s body fully clothed by a small donga. I searched his body and have found his paybook also a few photos which have been handed in to the officer to be forwarded on to you. He was found quite decently so you need not worry about that and by appearances he was shot through his head … You can rest assured he is where a good fight was once put up.
Sadly, there was no record of McMahon’s body being brought in for burial and his remains were not identified after the war. Today his name is listed amongst the missing on the Lone Pine Memorial.
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 Trooper Francis McMahon, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.
Michael Kelly
Historian, Military History Section
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Video of The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (89) Trooper Francis “Frank” McMahon, 10th Light Horse Regiment, AIF, First World War. (video)