The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (2374) Lance Corporal John Cameron Mackenzie, 12th 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 Dennis Stockman, the story for this day was on (2374) Lance Corporal John Cameron Mackenzie, 12th Battalion, AIF, First World War.

2374 Lance Corporal John Cameron Mackenzie, 12th Battalion, AIF
KIA 1 May 1918

Today we remember and pay tribute to Lance Corporal John Cameron Mackenzie.
John Mackenzie was born on 7 April 1888 in Kirkonnel, Scotland, the son of Mary and William Mackenzie. The Mackenzie family migrated to Australia when John was still a boy, arriving in Brisbane aboard the Duke of Portland in February 1900. John attended State School at Palmwoods, and the family lived in Cooroy, west of Noosa in Queensland. John went on to work as a labourer and as a butcher. In August 1912, he married Agnes May Gibson, who had migrated to Australia from Killyleagh, in Northern Ireland.

John Mackenzie enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in mid-1915, and departed for the war on 5 October. He sailed on the same boat as his younger brother, William Mackenzie, and the pair would end up spending much of the war together. While training in Egypt, the brothers joined the 12th Infantry Battalion. They arrived in France in April 1916, and proceeded to move to the Somme region of the Western Front.

They took part in their first major battle at Pozières in July 1916. Following a heavy bombardment of German lines, John and William were among the first troops out of their trenches into no man’s land. Their main objective was to take a ruined village to their north from German control. Australian troops captured the German trenches and then successfully saw off a series of strong counter-attacks. Between 23 and 27 July, the 1st Australian Division, of which their battalion was part, suffered over 5,000 casualties.

From 3 until 5 May 1917, John and the 12th Battalion were occupying the front line near Norieul in northern France when they came under strong German artillery attack, followed by a series of assaults using a combination of machine-gun, rifle, and high explosive artillery fire. The field diary also reports the use of German flamethrowers, which proved to be demoralising on the men. During these days of heavy fighting, John received a shrapnel wound to his right arm. He spent the next month recovering in hospital.

In September 1917 John’s service was recognised when he received a promotion to the rank of lance corporal. In January 1918, he spent time in hospital in England recovering from trench fever. While in England he underwent some extra training, before rejoining his unit in France in April. At the same time that John returned to his unit, his brother William departed for Australia. William had been in hospital on a number of occasions throughout the war, and he was eventually discharged from service due to his illness.

William and John would never see each other again. On 1 May 1918, just four days after John had rejoined his unit, the 12th Battalion was billeted in a camp behind the front line. At about 9:30 pm, a single German high explosive shell landed one on of their huts, killing 14 of the men inside. John was among the dead, he was 31 years old.

His remains now lie in Le Peuplier Military Cemetery in France, along with 106 servicemen from the First World War.

Lance Corporal John Cameron Mackenzie 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 Lance Corporal John Cameron Mackenzie, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

David Sutton
Historian, Military History Section