The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (2164) Private Alfred Ernest Jones, 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 Craig Berelle, the story for this day was on (2164) Private Alfred Ernest Jones, 18th Australian Infantry Battalion, AIF, First World War.

2164 Private Alfred Ernest Jones, 18th Australian Infantry Battalion, AIF
DOW 9 April 1918

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private Alfred Ernest Jones.

Alfred Jones was born in 1897 to Alfred and Emily Jones of Glen Innes, a town on the Northern Tablelands in the New England region of New South Wales. He attended Glen Innes Public School and later worked as a tailor.

In July 1915, at the age of 18, Jones enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force. He had nearly three and a half years’ experience in the military, having joined the cadets at a young age, and then the Militia. His father gave his consent for the younger Alfred to serve overseas, enlisting at the same time as his son.

Jones trained in Australia for two months before embarking for the Middle East. He sailed on the transport ship Argyllshire and arrived in Egypt late in 1915. There, he trained in the Australian army camps and joined his unit, the 18th Australian Infantry Battalion. Towards the end of March 1916, the Australian infantry in Egypt sailed to Marseilles to join the fighting on the Western Front.

The 18th Battalion’s first experience of battle in France was at the ruined village of Pozières in July 1916. During the battle, Jones was wounded in the arm, and was later evacuated to England for recovery. His father was also present at this battle, although in a different battalion, and was also wounded and evacuated to England.

Jones recuperated in England until November 1916, when he returned to the 18th Battalion in France. At this time, the AIF was preparing for its first European winter. As it happened, the northern European winter of 1916 and 1917 was the coldest in living memory, and the Australian troops suffered due to their lack of experience in cold weather. In February, Jones contracted pneumonia and returned to hospital in England.

By May 1917, Jones had recovered. He spent the remainder of the year in England, training and working at the army camps on the Salisbury Plain. In early March 1918, he returned to France and was reunited with his battalion. With another winter over and the ground hardening, the fighting on the Western Front was about to become mobile after years of stagnation.

In March 1918, the German army launched what 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. Jones 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, and 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. Jones was struck in the head by shrapnel and badly wounded. He died of his injuries during the unit’s evacuation from the village. He was 20 years old.
Due to the nature of his wounds, Jones’s body could not be identified, and he has no known grave. He is commemorated at the Australian National Memorial at Villers-Bretonneux.

Alfred’s father returned to Australia due to illness, and later re-joined the AIF on special service at the end of the war. He returned to Australia in 1919.

Private Alfred Ernest Jones 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 Alfred Ernest Jones, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Thomas Rogers
Historian, Military History Section