The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (127) Private William Lilley, 5th Queensland Imperial Bushmen, Boer 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 Michael Kelly, the story for this day was on (127) Private William Lilley, 5th Queensland Imperial Bushmen, Boer War.

127 Private William Lilley, 5th Queensland Imperial Bushmen
KIA 4 January 1902
Story delivered on 25 March 2018

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private William Lilley.

Lnown to his family as “Willie”, William Lilley was born in Booval, Queensland, on 4 September 1883. His father was employed at the local quarry, and he probably grew up in Booval and moved to nearby Redbank as a young man.

William and his older brother David Lilley enlisted for active service in the 5th Contingent of the Queensland Imperial Bushmen in February 1901. A few weeks later they left Australia bound for South Africa. Their arrival sparked interest in Cape Town, where the newspapers noted “they were a very fine lot of men … the Queensland Imperial Bushmen is one of the finest bodies of men ever landed here”.

The Lilleys’ contingent arrived in South Africa after the major set-piece battles and sieges were over, and an extended period of guerrilla-type skirmishes with the Boers had begun. By late 1901 the Queenslanders were very busy on patrol and regularly met with the enemy. Private Lilley wrote cheerful letters home about his exploits. He was described as “a most determined and courageous young fellow, who did not know what fear was, and his conduct when on active duty was greatly admired by his superior officers”.

On 24 December 1901 Willie wrote home saying:
We have had a good ‘cut’ at [the Boers] and for about an hour the bullets came down as thick as a shower of rain. There were 11 of our men wounded and one killed. We had another ‘go in’ yesterday … I can assure you the Boers ‘went’ very smartly. We knocked a few of them over, however. The Boers shot a fine grey horse of mine the other day… just as I was getting on my horse a bullet went through my hat and thence into my horse’s head, killing the nag on the spot. I lost no time in getting behind another man, and we made a bee-line for the next hill as fast as the horse could gallop. Gaining cover, we gave the Boers a hot time.

Less than two weeks later the Queenslanders again engaged the enemy near the town of Onverwacht. A party of Boers attacked the Queenslanders and came close to capturing one of their artillery pieces. In the sharp fight that followed, Private Lilley was killed in action. His brother David, who saw what happened, wrote to their mother: “It is hard to say poor Willie was among the dead. He was shot through the heart, and never moved after he fell … Willie died like a hero. They shot him from 20 yards … poor Willie had no pain. He just looked as if he were asleep in peace.”

Twelve men of the 5th Queensland Imperial Bushmen were killed in the incident. Eleven, including Private Lilley, were buried together in the same grave near the Onverwacht Spur. In the 1960s they were reinterred in the Ermelo Cemetery.

Private David Lilley and some of his comrades were greeted on their return to Australia by “a large and most enthusiastic gathering” at Dinmore in Queensland. Lilley was “received with hearty cheers as [he] entered the room”, but “was completely overcome” when a toast was proposed to “comrades left behind”. In March 1903, more than a year after Private Willie Lilley’s death, a “very large congregation assembled in St Alban’s Church, Goodna, on the occasion of the unveiling of a memorial tablet to the late Trooper William Lilley.” The tablet read “to the glory of God and in memory of Trooper William Lilley, QIB, who was killed in action at Onverwacht, South Africa, 4th January 1902, aged 18 years – Faithful Unto Death.”

His name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my right, among 605 Australians who lost their lives in the Boer War.

This is but one of the many stories of service and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Private William Lilley, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Meleah Hampton
Historian, Military History