The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (1841) Lance Corporal Thomas Ray Triglone, 45th 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 Joanne Smedley , the story for this day was on (1841) Lance Corporal Thomas Ray Triglone, 45th Battalion, AIF, First World War.

1841 Lance Corporal Thomas Ray Triglone, 45th Battalion, AIF
KIA 21 February 1917
Story delivered 15 December 2018

Today we remember and pay tribute to Lance Corporal Thomas Triglone.

Popularly known as “Tom”, Thomas Ray Triglone was born in Goulburn, New South Wales, in 1891, the eldest of seven children born to John and Lily Triglone.

The Triglone family moved to Redfern in Sydney when Tom was five years old, and six years later moved again to Ashfield. Tom attended school in Ashfield before being apprenticed to a tinsmith and ironworker at the age of 14. He later went on to work as a plumber.

Triglone enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in August 1915. After a period of training in Australia, he left for active service overseas with reinforcements to the 30th Battalion. He arrived in Egypt as the AIF was undergoing a period of reorganisation and expansion that saw it grow from two infantry divisions to five. As a part of this process, Triglone was transferred to the 45th Battalion.

At one point during training, Triglone reported to a field ambulance suffering from exhaustion. But he recovered quickly and was soon back in action.

A little over two months later the 45th Battalion was sent to France to fight on the Western Front. In early August 1916 the battalion entered the front line near the French village of Pozieres. The men came under heavy artillery fire, and fended off at least two German counter attacks before being relieved. During this time, Private Triglone was wounded in action, but quickly rejoined his battalion.

During the bitter winter of 1916 and 1917, the 45th Battalion alternated between duty in the trenches, and training and rest behind the lines, first around Ypres in Belgium, and then in the Somme Valley in France. Triglone kept in regular contact with his family, sending cheery postcards to his younger brothers and his family, and never mentioning the hardships of life in the frozen trenches.

On the 15th of February 1917 Triglone was promoted to lance corporal. A few days later the 45th Battalion moved up from its position at Flers and into the trenches near Gueudecourt.

On 21 February 1917, Triglone was manning a Lewis Gun in Storm Trench – a former German trench – at Gueudecourt when a shell landed almost directly on his position. Several men were wounded, and Thomas Triglone was killed outright.

He was 26 years old.

The location of his grave was never formally identified and today he is commemorated on the Australian National Memorial at Villers-Bretonneux along with 10,738 Australians killed in France who have no known grave.
After learning of his death, his parents put a notice in the Sydney Morning Herald which read:
He hath fought the noble fight,
He hath battled for the right,
He hath won the unfading crown.
“Loved by all.”

Thomas Triglone’s name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my right, among some 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 Lance Corporal Thomas Triglone, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Duncan Beard
Editor, Military History Section