The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (127) Private Samuel Weingott, 1st 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 (127) Private Samuel Weingott, 1st Battalion, AIF, First World War.

127 Private Samuel Weingott, 1st Battalion, AIF
DOW 5 June 1915

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private Samuel Weingott.

Samuel Weingott was born in Sydney on 11 May 1893. His father, Harris, was born in Karlish, Poland, and arrived in Australia with his family in 1883. Three years later Harris married Sarah Knopp – whose parents were also born in Poland – and the pair went on to raise a large family that followed the Jewish faith.

The Weingott family lived in the Sydney suburb of Annandale, where Harris was well known as the head of the family business: Weingott and Sons waterproof clothing and oilskin manufacturers.

Young Samuel Weingott attended Fort Street School, where he was a member of the cadets, and afterwards worked at the family business, which had an office on Sussex Street. By then, Samuel’s parents had separated, and his father had remarried Caroline Welch, known as “Leah”.

Following the declaration of war on 4 August 1914, Weingott was among the first to volunteer for service in the Australian Imperial Force. The 21-year-old enlisted on 24 August, earning a spot in A Company of the 1st Battalion, which was raised at Randwick within the first fortnight of the war.

After a brief period of basic training, the 1st Battalion was among the first Australian troops to be deployed overseas, arriving in Egypt in early December.

Weingott kept a diary during his service, with brief entries that vividly express his enjoyment of travelling through foreign lands, an experience heightened by the heady anticipation of the great adventure ahead.
After training in the desert camp at Mena, Weingott and his battalion took part in the landing at Anzac Cove, coming ashore with the second and third waves on 25 April 1915.

Weingott’s diary entry for Sunday 25 April reads:

Arrived at the Gallipoli Peninsular at 5 o’clock a.m. when the battleships opened heavy fire on the enemy. Engaged the Turks from 12 o’clock noon Sunday till daybreak Monday. Elbow grazed by shrapnel. Our fellows suffer heavy casualties.

During those early days, Weingott was rarely far from danger, noting instances such as:

Crawled back to the firing line for equipment and had a narrow shave of being shot.
I narrowly miss getting hit with the cap of a shell.
Very nearly blown to pieces by the enemy’s heavy gun fire … A bomb thrown by the enemy lands alongside me.
[A shell] buried itself in the parapet alongside me going in 7 feet but did not explode. The other blew one man to pieces, wounded one.
As the excitement of leaving home died down, the smell of dead bodies from outside the trenches became impossible to avoid, and Weingott’s diary entries became increasingly terse and dark:
Mate of mine shot through the heart whilst asleep … Shell explodes in our trench.
Terrible sights. Men alongside of me blown to pieces … Great morale effect on the troops. Many lose their nerves. Trenches blown to pieces. Work all night fixing them up.
On 25 May, Weingott reported that HMS Triumph, which had supported the main landing by the Anzac forces and continued to support them through May, had been sunk by an Austrian submarine “in sight of the Australian troops. 785 souls on board. 150 drowned. I read the burial service.”

Towards the end of the month a shell burst in his face: “Although unwounded I was knocked out for a few minutes. My rifle was twisted beyond recognition. Put off for the rest of the day.”

On 1 June there was some much-needed good news. Weingott reported that he had been “appointed Lance Corporal in charge of a section and feel very proud.” His spirits were further lifted the following day: “Overheard Lieutenant Lloyd say that I would make a good N.C.O. as I wasn’t at all afraid.”

But Private Weingott’s promotion was not to be confirmed. Four days later, on 5 June, he was admitted to a field ambulance with a gun-shot wound that had perforated his lower abdomen. His wound was mortal, and he died aboard the hospital ship Sicilia as it made its way from Gallipoli to Malta, and was buried at sea.

Samuel Weingott was 22 years old.

His family later received a letter from a fellow soldier at the front who reported that Samuel “had volunteered … to charge a position, and in the charge received his mortal wounds.”

The Weingott family suffered more than many as a result of the fighting on Gallipoli. Samuel’s older brother Alexander served with the 13th Battalion, and died of wounds received during the landing. Alexander was the first soldier to be buried in the Jewish cemetery at Alexandria, with a funeral attended by representatives of the Jewish congregation of Alexandria, and a service conducted by the Chief Rabbi.

Another brother, Baron (known as “Barry”,) served with the 1st Field Company Engineers and returned to Australia in 1919.

Samuel Weingott’s 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 Samuel Weingott, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Duncan Beard
Editor, Military History Section