The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (2410) Private Richard Thompson, 38th 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 Troy Clayton, the story for this day was on (2410) Private Richard Thompson, 38th Australian Infantry Battalion, AIF, First World War.

2410 Private Richard Thompson, 38th Australian Infantry Battalion, AIF
KIA 29 May 1917

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private Richard Thompson.

Richard Thompson was born on 3 May 1888, the son of blacksmith Richard Rudd Thompson and his wife Elizabeth, of the Sydney suburb of Newtown. He was the third of nine children, eight of whom survived infancy. “Dick”, as he was known to friends and family, attended Camdenville Public School in Newtown. On leaving school, he worked as a ship’s fireman, and moved to Collingwood, a suburb of Melbourne.

Thompson enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force at Melbourne in September 1916. He trained for only a few weeks in Australia before embarking on the transport ship Port Lincoln in October. Arriving in Plymouth at the end of December, he began training in England. In February 1917 he was admitted to hospital with scabies, a rash caused by mites burrowing under the skin. He was successfully treated for this with a bath in sulphur ointment.

At the end of April, Thompson sailed to France and joined the 38th Australian Infantry Battalion. The unit travelled by train to the French town of Armentieres in northern France. From there, they marched to the border of France and Belgium, preparing to enter the Ypres sector of the Western Front.

The 38th Battalion was stationed in the Ploegsteert – Saint Yves area, and spent the first half of 1917 engaging in trench raids on the German positions. These raids were sometimes preceded by an artillery barrage aimed at cutting barbed wire, and disabling German machine guns and other defensive measures.

In the early morning of 29 May 1917, Thompson and 220 other men of the 38th Battalion participated in a raid on German trenches. A German soldier was taken prisoner by the raiding party. Some of the supporting artillery barrage fell short, however, and Thompson was one of 30 soldiers of the 38th Battalion killed in this friendly-fire incident. He was 29 years old.

Two of Thompson’s younger brothers also fought in the First World War. Private Reginald Philip Thompson was killed at Mouquet Farm in August 1916. Gunner Bernard Rudd Thompson was killed at the Second Battle of Bullecourt in May 1917, only ten days before Richard.

The final resting place of Richard Thompson’s remains is unknown. His name is inscribed on the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial in France, alongside nearly 11,000 other Australians killed in the First World War who have no known grave.

Thompson was survived in Australia by his father and five siblings, Phoebe, Henry, Philip, Lillian, and Tasman. On his enlistment papers, Thompson had stated that he was single. However, in his will, he left all his effects to Eliza Howard, who lived at the same address as him in Collingwood. Eliza later received a war widow’s pension as his de facto wife.

Private Richard Thompson 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 Richard Thompson, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Thomas Rogers
Historian, Military History Section