The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (6082) Private Miller Maffaking Fergusson, 27th 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 Sharon Bown, the story for this day was on (6082) Private Miller Maffaking Fergusson, 27th Battalion, AIF, First World War.

6082 Private Miller Maffaking Fergusson, 27th Battalion, AIF
KIA 5 May 1917
Story delivered 9 November 2018

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private Miller Maffaking Fergusson.

Miller Fergusson was born on 16 December 1900 in Quorn, a town in the Flinders Ranges in the north of South Australia. His father William worked as an engineman on the railways, and Miller attended the local public school before enlisting in the Australian Imperial Force in September 1916.

At the time of his enlistment, Miller was still only 15 years old. He declared his age to be 18, and was accepted for service. He underwent a period of training in Australia before leaving for active service overseas with the 17th reinforcements to the 27th Battalion.

Another member of the 17th reinforcements was Private “Steele Harris” – later to be revealed as Private Bert Feuins, another underage enlistee who came from the district. At 19, he was a little older than Fergusson, and although they do not seem to have known each other before enlisting, by 1917 the two were firm friends.
In early April 1917 Privates Fergusson and Feuins entered the front line near the French village of Noreuil. On 3 May the 27th Battalion held a portion of the front line as Australian troops attacked the village of Bullecourt, suffering heavy casualties. The attack brought a sustained German artillery bombardment onto the Australian line.

Two days later, another German bombardment hit the 27th’s line and Private Fergusson was hit by shell-fire. It is likely he was in the forward lines in a dugout with Private Feuins when a German shell scored a direct hit. One man was killed in the blast and three, including Feuins and possibly Fergusson, were wounded. Badly wounded, Fergusson was taken to a dressing station, where he died shortly afterwards, as did his best mate Bert Feuins.

Although they did not know each other, the Fergusson and Feuins families remembered each other’s sons fondly when they remembered their own, and both regularly put memorial notices in the newspapers to both young men. They seem to have been buried next to each other, but in the reorganisation of the battlefields and construction of new cemeteries, they now lie in different cemeteries in the same area of France.

Private Miller Fergusson is today buried in Grevillers British Cemetery under the words “A beautiful memory left behind, unselfish, loving, true and kind.” He was 16 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 Miller Maffaking Fergusson, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Meleah Hampton
Historian, Military History Section