The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (5347) Private John Sidney Hayden, 24th 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 (5347) Private John Sidney Hayden, 24th Battalion, AIF, First World War.

5347 Private John Sidney Hayden, 24th Battalion, AIF
KIA 3 May 1917
Story delivered 9 September 2018

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private John Sidney Hayden.

John Hayden was born in 1892 in Bendigo, Victoria, to Sidney and Johanna Hayden. In the first half of 1894, a daughter, Lily was born to the couple. The family’s joy was short-lived as in August, Sidney died suddenly at age 36 and in April 1895, Lily died, leaving Johanna to bring up her son.

Hayden attended Marist Brothers School in Bendigo. While at school, he was a member of the 1st Battalion, junior cadets, made up of students from around the region.

After leaving school, Hayden went to work in Melbourne as a fireman for the Victorian Railways. While in Melbourne, he met Georgina Bentley, a widow with two children. The two began a relationship and were married in 1913.The family moved into a house in East Brunswick.

The family increased on 28 April 1915 with the birth of a son, Benedict. Hayden’s mother, Johanna, a midwife, was present to assist her grandson into the world.

Hayden enlisted in the AIF on 6 March 1916 and after his initial training, was allotted to 14th reinforcements to the 24th Battalion. He embarked from Melbourne on 1 August with other reinforcements on the transport ship Militiades, bound for England.

After disembarking in Plymouth in late September, he was sent to the 6th Training battalion at Rollestone to train for conditions on the Western Front. Hayden was sent to France on 19 November and joined to the 2nd Australian Division Base Details at Etaples.
Back in Australia, Georgina gave birth to a daughter, Jessie, on 27 of November. Johanna was again present as midwife. News of his daughter’s birth reached Hayden in the following months.

On 9 January 1917, Hayden was taken on strength of the 24th Battalion and he joined 14 Platoon, D Company. The next few months saw the battalion rotate from reserve positions into the front line and in March and April, the battalion was involved in the pursuit of the German Army as it withdrew to its prepared positions known as the Hindenburg Line.

In early May, the 24th Battalion moved into the front line opposite Ribemont in preparation for the second battle of Bullecourt. The Australians began their attack in the pre-dawn hours of 3 May.

Around 4.30 am, as the men of the 24th Battalion broke through the German wire, they came under heavy shell-fire. Among many others, Haydon was wounded by shrapnel from an exploding shell. As he was being pulled into a shell hole by a comrade, he was hit by another shell and killed instantly. He was 26 years old.

Such was the manner of his death, there was no possibility of recovering any remains for burial. Today Hayden is commemorated on the Australian National Memorial at Villers-Bretonneux.

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 John Sidney Hayden, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.



Michael Kelly
Historian, Military History Section