The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (738) Private Alfred Ernest Vile, 3rd Battalion, AIF & (788) Private Percy Edgar Vile, 3rd 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 Joanne Smedley, the story for this day was on (738) Private Alfred Ernest Vile, 3rd Battalion, AIF & (788) Private Percy Edgar Vile, 3rd Battalion, AIF, First World War.

738 Private Alfred Ernest Vile, 3rd Battalion, AIF
KIA19 May 1915
&
788 Private Percy Edgar Vile, 3rd Battalion, AIF
KIA 29 April 1915

Story delivered 17 February 2018

Today we remember and pay tribute to Privates Percy Edgar and Alfred Ernest Vile.

Percy Vile was born in 1891 in Mudgee, New South Wales, to George and Mary Vile. His brother Alfred was born two years later on 14 September 1893 in the nearby town of Gulgong.

The brothers grew up in Narromine where they attended the local public school. After leaving school, Percy went to work with his father as a carpenter in and around the Narromine district. Alfred became a painter and decorator.

Percy was known as a “fine athletic young man” and was very “well known as a keen footballer”. He and Alfred were “well-known figures around Narromine, and highly respected members of the community”.

Percy enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force shortly after the outbreak of war in August 1914 and was followed a month later by his younger brother Alfred. Both were posted to the same company of the 3rd Battalion and left Australia a few weeks later with the first contingent. They continued training in Egypt for some months.

In early April the 3rd Battalion were sent to the island of Lemnos and began training for the landing at Gallipoli. They arrived off the coast of the Gallipoli Peninsula shortly after 4am on 25 April 1915 and heard the sound of the cover force landing before disembarking. They were immediately pressed into action, attacking Turkish forces on the heights and desperately trying to establish trench lines to protect themselves from fire.

Over the following days the 3rd Battalion was involved in constant desperate fighting, and during the confusion did not keep records of the dead, wounded, and missing. It wasn’t until 29 April that they were relieved and had a chance to “get some idea of [their] losses”. On that day it was officially determined that Private Percy Vile was missing.

Private Alfred Vile knew his brother had been killed in action. On the 19th of May, when the Turks launched a large scale attack, Vile was desperate to come to grips with the enemy. He reportedly climbed up on the parapet a number of times, and had to be told to get down and wait for the Turks to arrive. Private Hill later recalled, “he was wild with them because his brother had been killed at the landing”. Private Alfred Vile never had the chance to exact his revenge. Hill was standing near Vile when his luck ran out: he was shot through the head and killed instantly.

Private Alfred Vile was buried in the 4th Battalion Parade Ground Cemetery, where he lies today under the words “God have mercy on his soul and let perpetual light shine upon him”.

A number of rumours circulated about what had happened to Percy Vile, some said that he had been wounded and taken to hospital, others that he had been wounded but had returned to the front line. Mary Vile held on to vague reports that her son had been taken prisoner and was in Constantinople. It took more than a year of investigation before a court of enquiry determined that he had in fact been killed in action shortly after the landing.

The truth was uncovered in 1921 when Private Percy Vile’s remains were found in a Turkish Cemetery at Pine Ridge. He was reburied in Lone Pine Cemetery where he lies today under the words “May God’s perpetual light shine upon him”. Percy Vile was 24 years old, his brother Alfred was 21.

Their names are listed on the Roll of Honour on my right, among almost 62,000 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 Privates Percy Edgar and Alfred Ernest Vile, who gave their lives for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Meleah Hampton
Historian, Military History Section