The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (1990) Private Arthur Moore, 5th 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 Charis May, the story for this day was on (1990) Private Arthur Moore, 5th Battalion, AIF, First World War
Film order form1990 Private Arthur Moore, 5th Battalion, AIF DOW 29 February 1916 Photograph: DA08186
Story delivered 15 October 2017
Today we remember and pay tribute to Private Arthur Moore.
Arthur Moore was born in 1875, one of 12 surviving children of Henry and Thurzia Moore of Warminster, Wiltshire, in England. After attending Lord Weymouth’s Grammar School, Arthur worked as a cattleman.
He spent five years in the North Somerset Yeomanry before emigrating to Australia in 1901. He was said to have loved a fight, and ran a boxing ring in Perth for a while. He later settled in Victoria, where he worked as a barman in Melbourne and Colac in the years before the war.
Arthur enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in January 1915. After training at Broadmeadows near Melbourne, in April 1915 he embarked for Egypt with a reinforcement group for the 5th Battalion. By then, Australian troops had landed on the Gallipoli peninsula and the 5th Battalion had participated in bitter fighting at Krithia further south at Cape Helles. Arthur joined the battalion on Gallipoli after it returned to Anzac Cove and was recovering from its heavy losses.
Along with troops of the 1st and 2nd Brigades, the 5th Battalion was involved in heavy fighting at Lone Pine between 6 and 8 August 1915. It was held in reserve and remained in the Australian trenches, but was subjected to a severe shelling by Turkish artillery while the fighting raged in the enemy positions. Arthur was seriously wounded in the
head by an Ottoman sniper, and was carried down to the beach for evacuation to Egypt.
He was taken immediately to the Auberge de Bavière hospital in Valletta on Malta, where he underwent emergency surgery. Several weeks later, he was admitted to the King George’s Hospital in London. Over the following months, he drifted in and out of consciousness, before finally succumbed to his wounds on 29 February 1916.
Aged 36 at the time of his death, Arthur was buried next to his father in the Holy Trinity Churchyard in Chantry, Somerset. A small epitaph penned by his grieving mother appears on his headstone. It reads: “He gave his life and future for the life and future of others.”
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 Arthur Moore, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.
Aaron Pegram
Historian, Military History Section
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Video of The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (1990) Private Arthur Moore, 5th Battalion, AIF, First World War (video)
Related information
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Places
- Europe: United Kingdom, England, Greater London, London
- Europe: United Kingdom, England, Somerset, Chantry, Holy Trinity Churchyard
- Mediterranean: Malta, Malta (island), Valletta
- Middle East: Ottoman Empire, Turkey, Dardanelles, Gallipoli
- Middle East: Ottoman Empire, Turkey, Dardanelles, Gallipoli, Anzac Area (Gallipoli), Anzac Beaches Area, Anzac Beach
- Middle East: Ottoman Empire, Turkey, Dardanelles, Gallipoli, Anzac Area (Gallipoli), Lone Pine Area, Lone Pine
- Middle East: Ottoman Empire, Turkey, Dardanelles, Gallipoli, Cape Helles Area, Cape Helles