The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (2921a) Private William John Reibel, 56th 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 (2921a) Private William John Reibel, 56th Battalion, AIF, First World War.

2921a Private William John Reibel, 56th Battalion, AIF
KIA 25 April 1918
Story delivered 21 December 2018

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private William John Reibel.

William Reibel was born in 1894 to Francis and Christiana Reibel of Valla near Nambucca Heads on the New South Wales mid-north coast. His father, Frank, had immigrated to Australia from Wurttemberg in Germany in 1883. As one of the area’s early pioneers, he was widely known as a hard and honest worker. But Frank died just a few years after William’s birth, leaving Christina Reibel to raise eight children.

Known to his family and friends as “Billy”, William attended St Mary’s Convent School at nearby Bowraville and afterwards worked as a farm labourer.
One of two Reibel brothers to serve in the First World War, William enlisted in Sydney in August 1915. After a period of training at Warwick Farm he sailed for Egypt with a reinforcement group for the 20th Battalion. Originally destined for the fighting in the Dardanelles, Australian troops withdrew from Gallipoli before he arrived.

Reibel was hospitalised with the mumps in January and was transferred to the newly-raised 56th Battalion as soon as he was discharged from hospital. The following months were spent training in Egypt until the battalion departed for France and the fighting on the Western Front in June 1916.

Less than two weeks after arriving in France, the 56th Battalion was involved in the first major action fought by the Australians on the Western Front. Attacking the German positions near the village of Fromelles, the 5th Australian Division suffered over 5,500 casualties in less than 24 hours of fighting.

Reibel survived unscathed, and was sent to a divisional training area behind the lines in the days afterwards, training at a Vickers machine-gun school throughout July, and then a bombing school in August. After the battalion shifted to the Somme for the bitter winter of 1916 and 1917, Reibel participated in the major actions fought by the battalion over the following months, including an assault on the German-occupied village of Louverval near Bullecourt in April 1917. He was granted UK leave in July 1917, but was soon hospitalised with bronchitis and enteritis which prevented him from returning to France until April the following year.

Reibel returned to the battalion in one of the most critical moments of the war. German troops had launched a major offensive that succeeded in breaking the stalemate of trench warfare and threatened British and French positions astride the river Somme. The Australians were in Belgium when the German offensive began, but were rushed south to defend the strategically vital city of Amiens. Throughout April 1918, the Australians fought a series of defensive actions that succeeded in preventing the Germans from advancing on Amiens. Among them was the 5th Division’s famous counter-attack at Villers-Bretonneux on the night of 24 April 1918, which marked the limit of the German drive towards Amiens.

The 56th Battalion was held in reserve while the counter-attack took place, although German artillery shelled their positions with high-explosive and gas throughout the following days. Although not recorded, it is believed that Reibel was one of two men killed when German artillery fired on the 56th Battalion positions on the afternoon of 25 April 1918.

Aged 24 at the time of his death, Reibel was buried at the nearby Aubigny British Cemetery. An epitaph selected by his grieving parents appears on his headstone: “Eternal Rest, Grant Him O Lord”.

His name is 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 Private William Reibel, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Aaron Pegram
Historian, Military History Section