The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (7342) Private George Alfred Yung, 7th 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 Troy Clayton, the story for this day was on (7342) Private George Alfred Yung, 7th Battalion, AIF, First World War.

7342 Private George Alfred Yung, 7th Battalion, AIF
KIA 20 September 1917
Story delivered 4 March 2018

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private George Alfred Yung.

Alfred Yung was born in Happy Valley, Victoria, in 1892, the eldest son and third of five children of George and Clara Yung. He attended school in Yendon, and then at Ballarat High School before became a teacher himself at Ballan and Yendon, and then head teacher at Greenland Dam near Horsham.

In February 1916 Yung left his position to enlist in the Australian Imperial Force. He was followed a few weeks later by his younger brother Ernest, who served in a different battalion from his brother. Alfred Yung was selected for non-commissioned officer training at Geelong, and then officers’ training school at Duntroon. He completed the course with a recommendation for commission, but left Australia for active service overseas before receiving one.

Private Yung travelled to England on board the troopship Ballarat, along with hundreds of Australian reinforcements to infantry battalions, machine-gun companies and a railway unit. On the afternoon of Anzac Day 1917, while still some miles from port, the Ballarat was torpedoed in the English Channel. It soon became clear that the ship would sink, and the nearly 1,700 men on board prepared to evacuate. All on board got away safely, and were later commended for their “magnificent discipline and steadiness” in leaving the stricken ship.

Private Yung continued training in England before joining the 7th Battalion on the Western Front in early July 1917. His first experience of a major battle came some two and a half months later at Menin Road in Belgium.

On 19 September the men of the 7th Battalion, having been served a hot meal and a hot drink, made their way to the front line, following a boggy and slippery route in the heavy rain. By the early hours of the following morning, they were in position on the assembly lines, and prepared to assault the German positions. The attack went ahead on time, and the 7th Battalion met little resistance, establishing positions on their objective line and then sending parties out to assist other battalions on their flanks.

Private Yung did not survive the operation. In the early dawn, he was shot through the head as he moved from one shell hole to another. He was reportedly killed instantly by the shot, and “suffered absolutely no pain”. One man who was nearby, Lance Corporal Williams, later “remarked on the coolness of Yung throughout the advance”.

Private Yung was buried near where he fell. A number of soldiers wrote to Yung’s parents in Murtoa, giving reports of his grave. However, his battlefield grave was lost in later fighting, and today Private Yung has no known resting place, but is commemorated on the Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing. He was 25 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 Private George Alfred Yung, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Meleah Hampton
Historian, Military History Section