The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of 2nd Lieutenant Ralph Irving Arnold, 15th 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 Sharon Brown, the story for this day was on 2nd Lieutenant Ralph Irving Arnold, 15th Battalion, AIF, First World War.

2nd Lieutenant Ralph Irving Arnold, 15th Battalion, AIF
KIA 8 August 1916

Story delivered 29 September 2017

Today we remember and pay tribute to Second Lieutenant Ralph Irving Arnold.

Ralph Arnold was born on 3 August 1888, the second son of Richard and Annie Arnold of North Sydney. His father served for many years as Clerk of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, and had been instrumental in founding the New South Wales Rugby Union. Ralph attended the Church of England Grammar School and then Sydney Grammar School. He went on to study at the Hawkesbury Agricultural College in Richmond and became a pastoralist and station overseer on the Darling Downs in Queensland.

Arnold travelled to Toowoomba to enlist in the Australian Imperial Force within months of the outbreak of war in 1914. He was posted to the 2nd Light Horse Regiment, and within a short period of time was sent for overseas service. The 2nd Light Horse landed at Gallipoli without their horses in early May 1915 in order to reinforce the infantry that had landed in April.

The 2nd Light Horse spent the next few months in and out of the front line at what became known as Quinn’s Post. In August 1915 the regiment attacked Turkish trenches opposite Quinn’s Post as a part of the August Offensive. The first wave of this assault failed, and the officer commanding the attack had the fortitude to call it off. Lance Corporal Arnold, who had been promoted shortly after landing on the peninsula, survived his Gallipoli experience and returned to Egypt on Boxing Day 1915.

Arnold had proven himself a capable soldier and shortly after his return to Egypt was selected for an officer training course. He passed, and in March 1916 received his commission as a second lieutenant in the 15th Battalion, transferring from the light horse.

The 15th Battalion first saw action on the Western Front near the French village of Pozières. The village had been captured on 23 July 1916, and on 8 August the 15th Battalion were called on to capture a German position to the north. The operation was launched at 9:20 in the evening under an intense artillery bombardment. Most of the 15th Battalion managed to reach their objectives but all were forced to retire in the early hours of the morning.

Second Lieutenant Arnold failed to return. It was later determined that he had been seriously wounded and his men could not bring him back through the extremely heavy shell-fire. German reports later confirmed his death.

In Australia the New South Wales Parliament referred to the death of Ralph Arnold. His father wrote to express his thanks, saying, “I … value very highly the kind words spoken by the Premier, Mr Fuller. Words cannot give back the brave lad, but by their expression of sympathy they do much to soften the loss.”

A friend of Ralph’s, second lieutenant Glasgow, wrote to the Arnold family, saying that Ralph “had a very keen sense of duty, always having the welfare of his men at heart, for which he was highly spoken of by them and his brother officers. Australia can ill-afford to lose officers and citizens of his standard.”
Ralph Arnold is buried in the London Cemetery and Extension at Longueval in France. He was 28 years old.

His name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my right, among more than 60,000 Australians who died during 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 Ralph Irving Arnold, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Meleah Hampton
Historian, Military History Section