The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (320) Private Frederick Parry, 29th 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 Michael Kelly, the story for this day was on (320) Private Frederick Parry, 29th Battalion, AIF, First World War.

320 Private Frederick Parry, 29th Battalion, AIF
KIA 19 July 1916
Story delivered 16 June 2018

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private Frederick Parry.

Frederick Parry was born in 1896, one of seven children of George and Sarah Parry of the Melbourne suburb of Brunswick. Known to his family and friends as “Fred”, he attended school in the Brunswick area and worked as a plasterer’s improver with his older brother Reuben in the years before the war.

Parry attempted to enlist in the Australian Imperial Force in January 1915 but was rejected because his chest measurement did not the minimum requirement. When the AIF relaxed its strict recruiting standards several months later, Fred and Reuben enlisted together in July 1915. After three months of training at nearby Broadmeadows military camp, the Parry brothers embarked for Egypt as original members of the 29th Battalion.

By the time Fred and Reuben Parry arrived in Egypt, the Gallipoli campaign had ended and the AIF was undergoing a period of reorganisation and training in preparation for its departure for the fighting on the Western Front. As part of the newly-formed 5th Division, the 29th Battalion sailed for France in June 1916 and entered the line in the relatively quiet “nursery” sector near the town of Armentieres on the Franco–Belgian border. Here, Australian divisions rotated in and out of the line, carrying out patrols of no man’s land and conducting raids on the German trenches.

In early July, the 29th Battalion departed to take part in the British offensive then raging on the Somme. As the most inexperienced of the Australian infantry divisions, the 5th Division would remain in the “nursery” to learn the rigours and routine of fighting on the Western Front.

Less than two weeks later, the 5th Division was committed to Australia’s first major action on the Western Front. On the evening of 19 July 1916, the 5th Division, along with the equally inexperienced British 61st Division, assaulted the German positions near the village of Fromelles.Their aim was to pin the German reserves in the north to prevent them from being sent south to the Somme. It was a costly and unsuccessful assault that resulted in over 5,500 Australian casualties in less than 24 hours of fighting. Among them were Fred and Reuben Parry, both of whom were listed as missing in the aftermath of the battle. Reuben was later confirmed to have been taken prisoner and spent the remainder of the war in German captivity. But there was no further news of what had happened to Fred.

Frustrated by not knowing what had happened to his son, George Parry, who was 53 years old, enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force. He served with the Australian Army Medical Corps’ Sea Transport Service, but returned to Australia several months later and was discharged from the AIF at his own request. George re-enlisted for Home Service and spent the remainder of the war caring for sick and wounded soldiers at the AIF Rest Camp in the Melbourne suburb of Macleod.

Without any further news of Fred, a court of inquiry in April 1917 determined that he had been killed at Fromelles sometime on the night of 19–20 July 1916. After the armistice, when Reuben returned from captivity, he was able to confirm with the Red Cross that he had last seen Fred in the captured German trenches at Fromelles with a gunshot wound to his arm. With German troops counter-attacking all along their front, and machine-gun fire sweeping down no man’s land behind them, the Parry brothers were indeed in a precarious situation. Reuben stated that “I sent him back to the German lines when I made a rush to get back to our lines.” It was the last time Fred was seen alive. The German authorities later confirmed that Fred had been killed and was buried in the Fromelles area, although the whereabouts of his grave remained unknown.

It was not until 2010, following the discovery of a long-forgotten mass grave at Pheasant Wood behind the old German front line at Fromelles, that Fred’s whereabouts were finally confirmed. His body was among the 250 British and Australian soldiers killed on the night of 19–20 July 1916. Their bodies were recovered from the mass grave at Pheasant Wood; many of their identities were confirmed through a combination of anthropological, archaeological, historical and DNA techniques. Aged 20 at the time of his death, Fred Parry was re-interred at the new Fromelles (Pheasant Wood) Military Cemetery, where he rests today. An epitaph written by his descendants appears on his headstone: “Dearly loved son of George and Sarah Parry of Brunswick, Victoria. Gone but not forgotten”.

Frederick Parry’s name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my right, among more than 60,000 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 Frederick Parry, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Aaron Pegram
Historian, Military History Section