The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (3972) Private Albert James Williams, 18th 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 Craig Berelle, the story for this day was on (3972) Private Albert James Williams, 18th Battalion, AIF, First World War.

3972 Private Albert James Williams, 18th Battalion, AIF
DOW 24 November 1916
Story delivered 22 July 2018

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private Albert Williams.

Albert James Williams was born in October 1897 in the Sydney suburb of Redfern, the second son of John Marshall and Louisa Williams.

The young Albert lived on George Street in Newtown and attended Newtown Superior Public School. When war was declared in 1914, he was too young to enlist. But in November 1915, barely a month after turning 18, he enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force.

He was working as a factory hand at the time, and after enlisting was presented with a wrist watch with his name engraved on it by his employers.

After spending some time at Holsworthy camp in western Sydney, in January 1916 Private Williams set off on the troopship Runic, bound for Egypt. He arrived in Alexandria in late February, and then spent about a month at a training base at Zeitoun, outside of Cairo. In early April, he arrived in France to join the fighting on the Western Front, and joined the 18th Battalion.

The 18th Battalion took part in its first major battle at Pozieres in late July and August 1916. Part of the Battle of the Somme, the fighting around Pozieres and nearby Mouquet Farm was vicious, and the Australians suffered 23,000 casualties in just six weeks.

After a spell in a quieter sector of the front in Belgium, the 2nd Division, including the 18th Battalion, returned to the Somme in October. The battalion was spared from participating in the battle of Flers, but rotated in and out of the front line not far from nearby Longueval. Winter was setting in, and the trenches had turned to a quagmire.

On 15 November a party of the 18th Battalion, including Private Williams, were sent into the front lines to improve conditions in the trenches. At some point during the day a high-explosive artillery shell landed near part of the party, killing and wounding a number of men. Private Williams was so severely wounded that at least one of those that came to the rescue thought he had been killed.

Williams was taken to 1st Australian General Hospital with multiple serious wounds. By the time he arrived at the hospital his left thigh had developed gas gangrene ¬– a particularly severe bacterial infection– and on 24 November 1916 he died of his wounds.

Private Albert James Williams was buried nearby at St Sever Cemetery Extension. He was 19 years old.

That December, notice of his death appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald, including the following lines:

‘Midst the battle’s awful din,
With firm resolve to die or win,
A credit to his uniform,
Our hero fell – and so we mourn.

Eight years later, his parents inserted a piece in the same paper on the anniversary of his death, which included the words, “Gone, but not forgotten”.

Williams’s 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 Albert James Williams, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Duncan Beard
Editor, Military History Section