The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (NX52185) Private Francis Commins, 2/17th Australian Infantry Battalion, Second World War.

Places
Accession Number AWM2019.1.1.274
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 1 October 2019
Access Open
Conflict Second World War, 1939-1945
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 Gerard Pratt, the story for this day was on (NX52185) Private Francis Commins, 2/17th Australian Infantry Battalion, Second World War.

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Speech transcript

NX52185 Private Francis Commins, 2/17th Australian Infantry Battalion
KIA 6 September 1942


Today we remember and pay tribute to Private Francis Commins.

Francis Commins was born on 27 May 1917, the son of John and Elizabeth Commins of Orange, New South Wales. Known as “Frank” to his family and friends, he worked as a barman in Sydney as a young man.

In June 1940, with the world at war, Commins decided to enlist in the second Australian Imperial Force. He trained in Sydney for some months, before moving to Goulburn to continue training. While at Goulburn, an incident occurred and Commins had to have a toe amputated. He recovered at home before returning late in the year.

Training in 1941 took Commins to the town of Tamworth where he was again admitted to hospital, this time with mumps, a common complaint in the crowded conditions of the army camps. He recovered in time to embark from Sydney in April, arriving in the Middle East in May.
Commins began training to become a signaller, and in June he joined his unit, the 2nd/17th Australian Infantry Battalion, in the port city of Tobruk, Libya, where it was defending against Italian and German forces. The city had been in a state of siege since April.

Allied forces successfully held off the Axis attack, and the siege of Tobruk lasted for over eight months. In October, the Australians were relieved by the 70th British Division.
On the day before his unit was relieved at Tobruk, Commins and a mate from his battalion hitch-hiked to the harbour for a swim and a last look at the town.

Once the unit had left Tobruk, the 2nd/17th Battalion moved to Syria and Lebanon and continued training.
In July, the battalion travelled to Alexandria, and from there deployed west in readiness for a showdown with the Axis forces.

The British-led Allies took up positions around El Alamein. Following their withdrawal from Libya, the Allies had defended a line between the Mediterranean Sea in the north and the Qattara Depression in the desert to the south. The 9th Australian Division, of which the 2nd/17th Battalion was a part, was on the right flank of the Allied position, on the coast.

In September, German forces attempted to break through the Allied lines. While the 2nd/17th Battalion was not sent into the fight, it was shelled regularly by German artillery, and on 6 September 1942, Commins was killed in action by shrapnel. He was 25 years old.

Today Frank Commins’s remains lie buried in El Alamein War Cemetery. His headstone reads simply, “R.I.P.”.
His name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my left, among almost 40,000 Australians who died while serving in the Second 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 Francis Commins, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Thomas Rogers
Historian, Military History Section

  • Video of The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (NX52185) Private Francis Commins, 2/17th Australian Infantry Battalion, Second World War. (video)