The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (423) Private Arthur Lancelot Devenish, 11th 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 Craig Berelle, the story for this day was on (423) Private Arthur Lancelot Devenish, 11th Battalion, AIF, First World War.

423 Private Arthur Lancelot Devenish, 11th Battalion, AIF
KIA 25 April 1915

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private Arthur Lancelot Devenish.

Arthur Devenish was born on 3 December 1893, the eldest son of Arthur and Edith Devenish of Northam Western Australia. Arthur’s mother passed away weeks after his birth. In 1896 his widower father remarried, and Arthur grew up with his father, step-mother, older sisters and younger step-siblings.

Known as “Lance” to his family and friends, he attended school at James Street School in Perth, and later worked as a warehouseman. He also trained as an agriculturalist. At the time of his enlistment, he was living in Victoria Park, near Perth’s city centre.

Arthur Devenish enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on 17 August 1914, soon after the beginning of the Great War, and began training with the 11th Infantry Battalion at the Blackboy Hill Camp near Perth. During his training, he was promoted to the temporary rank of lance corporal.

After just two weeks preliminary training, Devenish and the 11th Battalion sailed from Fremantle as part of the first convoy of troops to sail from Australia for overseas service. They arrived in Egypt in early December to continue their training.

Throughout this period, Devenish frequently wrote home to his family telling them of his experiences. In late April, they received a letter from him stating that he was on the island of Lemnos, and that that he thought great events were about to occur.

Days after writing the letter, in the early hours of the morning on 25 April 1915, Devenish and the 11th Battalion were among the first wave of troops to land on Gallipoli. The unit’s field diary records that the men came under heavy Turkish fire as they made the landing at what would become known as Anzac Cove and attempted to occupy the steep surrounding cliffs.

Devenish was last seen with the men of his company attacking on the left flank of his unit’s line. They had advanced about two kilometres from the landing beach, and had reached about as far as many men of his unit would on that day. Many men of that company, including Devenish, were never seen again.

He was originally reported missing in action, and his family faced an agonising wait to hear official news of his fate. In the absence of official notification, his family heard numerous reports about what had happened to him. One soldier wrote to his father stating that he had heard that Devenish was in hospital in Malta with a wounded forearm. Soldiers who had fought alongside Devenish on Gallipoli reported hearing that he had been taken as a prisoner of war of the Turkish forces and was in a camp near Constantinople.

None of these stories could be substantiated, and in early April 1916, nearly a year after the first Anzac landing, Devenish was officially reported to have been killed in action.

He was 22 years old.

His name is recorded on the Lone Pine Memorial on Gallipoli, which commemorates nearly 5,000 Australian and New Zealand servicemen who have no known grave.
Private Arthur Lancelot Devenish’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 Arthur Lancelot Devenish, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

David Sutton
Historian, Military History Section