The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (193) Lance Corporal Liscombe Reginald Emanuel Spiller, 27th 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 Jana Johnson, the story for this day was on (193) Lance Corporal Liscombe Reginald Emanuel Spiller, 27th Battalion, AIF, First World War.

193 Lance Corporal Liscombe Reginald Emanuel Spiller, 27th Battalion, AIF
KIA 29 June 1916

Story delivered 27 February 2018

Today we remember and pay tribute to Lance Corporal Liscombe Reginald Emanuel Spiller.

Liscombe Spiller was born at Mitcham, Adelaide, on 28 August 1896 to Frank and Frances Spiller.

The young Spiller grew up in Glenelg and attended Kyre College and later the Collegiate School of St Peter. After leaving school, he worked briefly on a farm before returning to the city to work as a clerk. During this time he served with the 78th Infantry, Adelaide Rifles.

Following the outbreak of the First World War, Spiller enlisted with the consent of his parents at Keswick on 30 January 1915. At the end of his training in March, he was allotted to the newly-raised 27th Battalion and on arrival, was posted to A Company.

In early May, Spiller was promoted to lance corporal before embarking with the 27th Battalion from Adelaide’s Outer Harbour aboard the transport ship Geelong, bound for Egypt. Arriving in July, the battalion spent several months training in harsh desert conditions.

In early September, the battalion left Egypt for service on Gallipoli. Spiller and his comrades came ashore on 12 September and spent most of the following months occupying positions on Cheshire Ridge. In mid-December, three months after arriving on the peninsular, the 27th Battalion was withdrawn from Gallipoli as part of the evacuation.

Returning to Egypt, the AIF went through a period of reorganisation and expansion in preparation for joining the fighting on the Western Front.

The 27th Battalion sailed for France in March and was sent to the “Nursery Sector” near Armentières, a relatively quiet sector of the front line where new troops were introduced to the war on the Western Front.

On the night of 28-29 June, the 27th Battalion, then in the front line near Messines in Belgium, conducted a trench raid against German positions at Ontario Farm. During the raid, 15 Germans were killed and four were taken prisoner. The Australians suffered four wounded and one man killed: Lance Corporal Spiller.

His comrades carried his body back to the Australian lines and he was laid to rest in La Plus Douve Farm Cemetery.

Liscombe Spiller was 19 years old.

His name is 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 Lance Corporal Liscombe Reginald Emanuel Spiller, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Michael Kelly
Historian, Military History Section