The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (Q273551) Sapper Ernest Frederick Poschalk, 1st Training Battalion, Royal Australian Engineers, Second 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 (Q273551) Sapper Ernest Frederick Poschalk, 1st Training Battalion, Royal Australian Engineers, Second World War.

Q273551 Sapper Ernest Frederick Poschalk, 1st Training Battalion, Royal Australian Engineers
Killed in training accident 21 May 1945

Today we remember and pay tribute to Sapper Ernest Frederick Poschalk.

Ernest Poschalk was born on 9 January 1927 in Townsville, Queensland, the son of Ernest and Celia Poschalk.

Ernest had an early interest in music, and at the age of 12 won a bass trombone solo in the Australian championship in Brisbane. He was regarded very highly in band circles, and it was widely anticipated that he would go far as a bandsman.

Poschalk lived and worked as a junior motor mechanic at Loft’s Garage in Maryborough, Queensland. He joined the Maryborough Boys’ Band, and in 1944 became a member of the Maryborough Federal Band. Late in 1944 he won championship honours for the euphonium at Brisbane.

His older brother, Herbert, had earlier enlisted in the AIF and served with the 6th Division in Greece and Crete. Evading capture, Herbert had been reported missing for more than two years, but survived until he was able to make it to British lines and was repatriated to Australia in November 1944.

Once Ernest Poschalk had been called up to the Militia, he was posted in May 1945 to the 1st Training Battalion, Royal Australian Engineers, at the large Australian Army training base at Kapooka.

Around a fortnight later, on the afternoon of 21 May 1945, Poschalk was crowded in a dugout during a routine demolition training exercise on the preparation of hand charges.

Two groups were there, one of 22 trainees and two instructors, and a smaller squad of three men and one instructor. Inside the dugout 110 pounds of explosives were stored for the day’s training exercise. In circumstances that remain unknown to this day, the explosives ignited. In the explosion, 24 men were killed instantly, two died of injuries shortly afterwards, and two more were severely injured.

Poschalk was one of those killed in the accident. He was 18 years old.

A mass funeral was held for the men in Wagga Wagga on 24 May. Thousands of people lined the route of the funeral parade, and the 26 flag-draped coffins were carried on four army trucks. The cortege included over 100 military vehicles carrying members of the Army and Air Force. The dead were buried in the Wagga Wagga War Cemetery.

Poschalk’s name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my left, among some 40,000 Australians who died while serving in the Second World War.

This is but one of the many stories of service and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Sapper Ernest Frederick Poschalk, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Lachlan Grant
Historian, Military History Section