The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (2395) Lieutenant Ronald Grahame Henderson, MC, 18th Australian Infantry 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 , the story for this day was on (2395) Lieutenant Ronald Grahame Henderson, MC, 18th Australian Infantry Battalion, AIF, First World War.

2395 Lieutenant Ronald Grahame Henderson, MC, 18th Australian Infantry Battalion, AIF
KIA 9 April 1918

Today we remember and pay tribute to Lieutenant Ronald Grahame Henderson.

Ronald Grahame Henderson was born in North Sydney on 5 July 1892 to Stephen and Helen Henderson. After attending Sydney Grammar School he worked as a bank clerk at the Commonwealth Bank.

In April 1915, Henderson enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force. He joined at the large army camp in Liverpool, outside Sydney, where he trained for six months. In October, he sailed to Egypt on the transport ship Themistocles. At the Australian army camp in Tel-el-Kebir, Henderson completed further training and joined the 18th Australian Infantry Battalion. Showing leadership potential, he was promoted to the rank of corporal. In March 1916, the Australians sailed for France to join the fighting on the Western Front.

The 18th Battalion moved into the front-line trenches in May and began digging and reinforcing trenches and fortifications. In early June, the Germans shelled the unit’s position in order to divert attention away from a raid they were carrying out to the north. During this barrage, Henderson was struck by a shell fragment in the leg. He was evacuated to England to recover. His parents were informed that the wound was “mild”, and Henderson returned to France in September. On his return, he was promoted to sergeant.

With clerical skills from his days as a bank clerk, Henderson showed a great ability to communicate intelligence about enemy positions. In November 1916 he was selected for officer training, which he undertook in England, at Balliol College, Oxford. In March 1917 he was appointed second lieutenant, and returned to the 18th Battalion in France.

The battalion was involved in the battle at Bullecourt in May, after which Henderson was promoted to the rank of lieutenant. He was now an intelligence officer in the headquarters of the Australian 5th Brigade. In this role, Henderson collected intelligence about German troop movements, trench maps, and artillery positions. The 18th Battalion was involved in the fighting at Menin Road in September, and then at the battle of Poelcappelle in early October 1917.

During the battle, Henderson was badly wounded by shell fragments in both arms. He had refused to leave his post at brigade headquarters, despite a heavy German artillery barrage. By staying at his post, he was able to relay valuable information about the enemy’s position to his superior officers. For his actions, Henderson was awarded the Military Cross.

He was again evacuated to England and spent four months at Cobham Convalescent Home in Kent recovering from his injuries. Because his hand had not fully healed, he was sent to work as an instructor in intelligence gathering at the Australia Corps School in France during the month of March. By the end of his time there, he had recovered sufficiently to return to his unit.

In March 1918, the German army launched what would be its final major assault of the war, which became known as the German Spring Offensive. A key objective for the German forces in this attack was to capture the rail hub city of Amiens, and split the British forces in the north from their French allies in the south. British and Australian forces managed to halt the offensive in April at the town of Villers-Bretonneux, less than 30 kilometres from Amiens. Henderson and the 18th Battalion were stationed at the town to help stop the German advance.

In the first week of April, the 18th Battalion was in the front line at Villers-Bretonneux, during which time the men were targeted by German artillery and machine-gun fire. At the end of the week, the unit was relieved, and the men moved to billets at the smaller village of Gentelles, behind the front lines. The battalion’s war diary noted that this village’s civilian population had evacuated in the face of the fighting, so there was plenty of straw for the men to sleep on, and the men had their first decent sleep for over a week.

At 6 am the next morning, 9 April 1918, the men were awoken by a German artillery barrage falling on the village of Gentelles. The unit rapidly moved to a nearby field and dug in, but Henderson was killed in the village by shell fire. He was 25 years old.

Ronald Henderson is buried in Adelaide Military Cemetery at Villers-Bretonneux. His younger brother, Private Hugh Grahame Henderson of the 35th Battalion, had died of wounds only five days earlier. The graves of the two men lie next to each other.

Lieutenant Ronald Grahame Henderson 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 Lieutenant Ronald Grahame Henderson, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Thomas Rogers
Historian, Military History Section