The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (1653) Private Henry Gooda, 36th Battalion, 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 Chris Widenbar, the story for this day was on (1653) Private Henry Gooda, 36th Battalion, First World War.

1653 Private Henry Gooda, 36th Battalion
DOW 14 December 1916
Story delivered 21 May 2018

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private Henry Gooda.

Henry Gooda was born in 1891 to Henry and Mary Ann Gooda of Warialda, New South Wales. His father owned a property called “Fairfield”, where Henry worked as a station hand. He enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in March 1916.

Gooda was posted to the 36th Battalion and began training in Australia. On 13 May 1916 he boarded the troopship Beltana and travelled to England, joining the main force of the 36th Battalion which was waiting to be sent to fight on the Western Front. After further training in England, the battalion departed for France in November 1916.

A little over two weeks after arriving in France, the 36th Battalion had just come out of the front line in a quieter sector of the Western Front, but was providing working parties to go forward and assist engineers working near the front. The battalion’s war diary records that 600 men were sent forward every day for six days, with only one man being killed in that time.

That man was Private Henry Gooda. He was wounded by shrapnel in the abdomen and groin, and died in hospital on 14 December 1916. The Presbyterian chaplain with the 9th Brigade wrote to Private Gooda’s parents to say “it fell to my sad lot to conduct the burial service over your son’s body.” Gooda was buried in the Cite Bonjean Military Cemetery at Armentieres.

Henry Gooda 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 Henry Gooda, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Meleah Hampton
Historian, Military History Section