The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (2428) Private Octavius John Pyne, 10th Battalion, AIF, First World War.

Places
Accession Number AWM2019.1.1.207
Collection type Film
Object type Last Post film
Physical description 16:9
Maker Australian War Memorial
Place made Australia: Australian Capital Territory, Canberra, Campbell
Date made 26 July 2019
Access Open
Conflict First World War, 1914-1918
Copyright Item copyright: © Australian War Memorial
Creative Commons License This item is licensed under CC BY-NC
Copying Provisions Copyright restrictions apply. Only personal, non-commercial, research and study use permitted. Permission of copyright holder required for any commercial use and/or reproduction.
Description

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 (2428) Private Octavius John Pyne, 10th Battalion, AIF, First World War.

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Speech transcript

2428 Private Octavius John Pyne, 10th Battalion, AIF
DOW 17 March 1917

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private Octavius John Pyne.

Octavius Pyne was born on 4 November 1890 in Mount Barker, South Australia, the son of John and Elizabeth Pine. He grew up in Wellington and Strathalbyn, attended Strathalbyn State School, and then Christian Brothers College in Adelaide.

When his father, a mounted police constable, was posted to Renmark, Pyne remained at Strathalbyn with his brothers. He was known locally for his “happy and genial” nature. He was working as a telegraph linesman when the First World War began.

Pyne enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on 25 March 1915, and after several weeks of training was allocated to reinforcements for the 10th Battalion.

A little over a week later, on 25 April, his youngest brother Patrick, who had joined the 10th Battalion at the outbreak of the war, was killed during the landing at Gallipoli. Patrick was 19 years old.

Pyne embarked with other reinforcements from Outer Harbour on the 23rd of June aboard the transport ship Kanowna, bound for Egypt. Several months more training in the desert sands followed.

Pyne was sent to Gallipoli in mid-September where he joined the 10th Battalion. He remained on Gallipoli until November, when the battalion was withdrawn to Lemnos for rest. In December the positions at Anzac were evacuated, bringing the AIF’s first campaign to a close. The 10th Battalion arrived in Egypt at the end of the month.

In early January 1916 Pyne broke out of camp and went absent without leave. He was apprehended a day later and after being charged, he was fined one day’s pay and given 14 days in detention.

The 10th Battalion departed Egypt in late March and arrived in France at the beginning of April. After gaining valuable experience in the Nursery Sector near Armentieres, the battalion was sent south to the Somme.

On 23 July, Pyne took part in his first major battle when the 10th Battalion took part in the attack on Pozieres. In August he took part in an attack near Mouquet Farm after which, the casualty depleted battalion was sent to the Ypres sector for a period of rest. In October the battalion returned to the Somme where the men endured one of the worst winters in recorded history.

In December 1916, Pyne travelled on leave to London. On 12 December he was approached by two British military policemen who demanded to see his leave pass. He refused to produce his papers, after which the military police apprehended him. Pyne did not go quietly. He threw at least one punch and used insulting language towards the red caps before the arrest was effected. He was charged with multiple offences and given ten days’ Field Punishment Number Two.

He returned to France in early January and re-joined the 10th Battalion, which was resting and training near Albert. At the end of the month Pyne was arrested and charged for drunkenness while on active service. He was fined over a month’s pay and given 30 days of Field Punishment Number Two.

In the spring of 1917 the Germans withdrew to their prepared positions known as the Hindenburg Line. On 24 February the 10th Battalion moved forward and occupied Gird Trench near Gueuedecourt. The following day the battalion attacked and captured Le Barque Switch Trench.

Pyne, with his experience in civilian life, had become a linesman in the 10th Battalion’s signals section. After the capture of Le Barque Switch Trench, Pyne and his fellow signallers were laying signal wire when the Germans began shelling their former positions.

Shrapnel from one of the shells hit Pyne in the head, fracturing his skull. He was evacuated to the 13th General Hospital at Boulogne, arriving on 1 March, his condition listed as “dangerous”. In the ensuing days, he developed septic meningitis and despite the best of care, he died in the early hours of 17 March.

Pyne was laid to rest two days later, with full military honours, in the Boulogne Military Cemetery. He was 26 years old.

A third brother, William, a practicing solicitor, enlisted on 3 October 1916 and he arrived in England in late March 1917, ten days after his brother’s death. He served with the 50th Battalion in France and Belgium and was wounded during the battle of Polygon Wood. He returned to Adelaide in 1919.

Pyne’s name 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 Octavius John Pyne, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Michael Kelly
Historian, Military History Section

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