The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (5409) Captain James Gordon Tyson MC, 3rd Battalion, AIF, and (5409) Private Reginald Hartley Tyson, 19th 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 (5409) Captain James Gordon Tyson MC, 3rd Battalion, AIF, and (5409) Private Reginald Hartley Tyson, 19th Battalion, AIF, First World War.

5409 Captain James Gordon Tyson MC, 3rd Battalion, AIF
KIA 3 May 1917

5409 Private Reginald Hartley Tyson, 19th Battalion, AIF
KIA 3 May 1917
Story delivered 1 December 2018


Today we remember and pay tribute to Captain James Gordon Tyson and Private Reginald Hartley Tyson.

Known by family and friends as “Reg”, Reginald Tyson was born in Sydney on 1 January 1890, to Annie and William Tyson. Five years later, on 6 February, his brother James was born.

Their father was originally from Lancashire, England, but suffered from lung ailments and moved to Australia in the hope that the climate would improve his health. In Sydney he became joint manager of the Pastoral Finance Association, but died of pneumonia at home at Kirribilli Point when James was seven and Reginald was 12.

The Tyson brothers attended North Shore Church of England Grammar School. James served in the Senior Cadets, and then as second lieutenant in the Militia. Reginald served in the Militia for four years, including a period as lieutenant in the 18th Infantry, before beginning work as a shipping clerk

James enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in June 1915 and was allotted to 7th Reinforcements to the 3rd Battalion. A month later, Second Lieutenant James Tyson embarked from Sydney on board the troopship Orsova, bound for Egypt.

After a period of training, James joined his unit on Gallipoli in November, where detailed evacuation plans were beginning to be made. In late December, the 3rd Battalion left Gallipoli and returned to Egypt, where the AIF undertook a significant re-organisation and expansion. He attended Command School of Instruction at the training camp at Zeitoun, near Cairo, and was promoted to lieutenant.

In March, the 3rd Battalion left Egypt, bound for the Western Front. First disembarking at Marseilles, the battalion had an initial period of acclimatisation, undertaking duties in a quiet sector of the line near Armentieres.

Even here, the front line was a very dangerous place to be, and the men came under intermittent sniper and artillery fire. In late June, the artillery of both sides was active, and James Tyson reported to a field ambulance with a shell wound to his arm and leg. He was transferred to a rest station, but recovered quickly.

He was promoted to captain a few days later, becoming the second in command of C Company, and was reported as being “very popular and well liked by all his men”.

In July the 3rd Battalion took part in its first major action in Europe at Pozieres. The French village was initially captured by the 1st Division, which included Tyson’s battalion, on 23 July 1916. The division clung to its gains despite almost continuous artillery fire and repeated German counter-attacks. But it suffered heavily. By the time it was relieved four days later the division had suffered 5,285 casualties.

Tyson survived Pozieres unscathed, but a few months later was sent to hospital in England suffering from trench fever. While there he reported suffering from brain fatigue and hand tremors. But he recovered and was back with his unit by mid-November.

On 9 April, the 3rd Battalion was advancing towards the French village of Hermies, and was being subjected to heavy rifle and machine-gun fire. Captain Tyson led half of his company forward and flanked the enemy, enabling a strong point and machine-gun to be captured, and allowing the advance to continue to its objective. He was later awarded the Military Cross for this action.

Reginald Tyson enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in March, as his brother James was leaving for the Western Front. As he had resigned his commission in the Militia before the war, Reginald joined up as a private. He left Sydney on the troopship Wiltshire in August and arrived in England for further training before being allotted to the 14th Reinforcements to the 19th Battalion, joining his unit in France in early April 1917.

On 3 May 1917, a renewed attempt was made to secure the fortified village of Bullecourt as part of the final throes of the British Army’s Arras offensive. While the Australians would eventually penetrate the German line, they met determined opposition and inspired a series of ferocious and costly counter-attacks that would end with almost 7,500 Australian casualties.

The British 62nd Division and the Australian 2nd Division had begun the attack in the predawn hours. That night James Tyson was leading his company through a communication trench to the front line when a shell burst in front of him. A piece of it hit him under the shoulder blade and penetrated his lung. He was taken away by stretcher, but fell unconscious and died before he reached the dressing station. He was 22 years old.

That same day, James’s brother Reginald was with Lance Corporal Murphy. They were acting as signallers, providing communications to the company and headquarters but became separated. A stretcher bearer told Murphy that he had helped Reginald to a dressing station – a mobile medical unit where he could receive medical treatment – and that after arriving safely, Reginald had proceeded to walk to the next dressing station. He was never seen again. He was 26 years old.

Initially listed as missing in action, it wasn’t until April the following year that Reginald Tyson was officially reported as killed in action. His body was recovered and identified after the end of the war, and a cross was erected for him at Queant Road Cemetary, Buissy, along with the epitaph “Thy will be done”.

James Tyson was buried just outside the village of Vaux. The major of his unit erected a stone from a nearby ruined church with his name on it. “He was a good sort” reported one of the men who had seen him wounded. His remains were later reinterred at Vraucourt Copse British Cemetery under the epitaph “Through death shall come new life”.

James and Reginald Tyson are 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 Captain James Gordon Tyson and Private Reginald Hartley Tyson, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Duncan Beard
Editor, Military History Section