The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (724) Private Archibald James Howlison, 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 Richard Cruise, the story for this day was on (724) Private Archibald James Howlison, 19th Battalion, AIF, First World War.

724 Private Archibald James Howlison, 19th Battalion, AIF
KIA 14 November 1916

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private Archibald James Howlison.

Known to friends and family as “Archie”, Archibald Howlison was born in 1888 in the Sydney suburb of Double Bay, the only son of Archibald and Louisa Howlison.

His father, Archibald senior, had been born in Glasgow, coming to Australia as an assisted immigrant at the age of 22. He died in Sydney when Archibald junior was just four years old. Archibald junior’s mother, Louisa, remarried in 1899, when he was 11, and the family came to live in Hornsby.

Archie Howlison attended Hornsby Superior Public School, before becoming a painter. He became quite successful and known as “a master-painter in a considerable way of business.” He was an enthusiastic cyclist, and an active and successful member of the Central Cumberland Cycling Club.

Howlison enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force at Liverpool on 19 May 1915, and was posted to the 19th Battalion.

The 19th Battalion had been raised at Liverpool just a few months earlier as part of the 5th Brigade. It left Australia in late June, trained in Egypt from late July until mid-August, and on 21 August landed at Anzac Cove.

At Gallipoli, Howlison and his battalion participated in the last action of the August Offensive – the attack on Hill 60 – before settling into a defensive routine in the trenches, responsible for the defence of Pope's Hill.

On 24 October, Howlison was wounded in action, receiving gunshot wounds to the head. He was evacuated to England, spending time at Brook War Hospital recovering before rejoining his unit in April 1916.

By this time, the 19th Battalion was in France in the Armentieres sector, a relatively quiet part of the line where units new to the Western Front were sent to acclimatise to trench warfare. During this time Private Howlison was wounded for a second time, but remained on duty.

In July, the battalion moved south to the Somme, where it took only a very minor part in the fighting at Pozieres. In November, after a period of respite in a quieter sector in Belgium, the battalion was moved back to the Somme.

At 6.45 am on 14 November, the 19th Battalion participated in an operation to capture a German trench known as “Gird Trench” near the French village of Flers. During the attack, the 19th Battalion and part of the 5th Northumberland Fusiliers were able to capture their objectives, but failures of their flanks meant that the men were surounded by the enemy on three sides. Nevertheless, the battalion was able to hold their position until being relieved by the 28th Battalion in the early hours of 16 November. They later reported more than 370 casualties from the 450 who began the operation.

One of those who did not return was Private Archie Howlison. Initially reported as missing and wounded, his body was later found on the battlefield near Flers. A witness reported that he had been hit by a shell and killed during the charge across no man’s land on the morning of 14 November 1916.
Archibald Howlison was 28 years old.

His grave was lost during later fighting, and today he is commemorated at the Memorial at Villers-Bretonneux. His name appears on the Hornsby War Memorial, erected to commemorate the local men who served in the First World War.
His name is also 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 Archibald James Howlison, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Duncan Beard
Editor, Military History Section