The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (1971) Private James Archibald Randell, 52nd 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 Jana Johnson, the story for this day was on (1971) Private James Archibald Randell, 52nd Battalion, AIF, First World War.

1971 Private James Archibald Randell, 52nd Battalion, AIF
DOW 29 April 1918

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private James Archibald Randell.

James Randell, known as “Archie” to his family and friends, was born on 24 February 1893, the son of John and Margaret Randell of Rockhampton, Queensland. Randell was the second of three children, and the family’s only son. He attended his local state school, and later worked as a motor mechanic and saddler. He lived in Pentland, to the west of Mackay.

Randell enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on 10 January 1916 at Charters Towers, and joined the reinforcements for the 52nd Infantry Battalion. He spent nearly five months training with his battalion in Australia, and while visiting Brisbane wrote home to his younger sister Rhoda “by Jove it is so different down here from bush life … I got such an eye opener”.

Randell embarked from Brisbane in May 1916, and after a brief stopover at Alexandria in Egypt, sailed for England, where he arrived in August. In November 1916 he sailed for France and joined the 52nd Infantry Battalion in the trenches of the Western Front just in time for the bitter winter of 1916 and 1917.

The wintry conditions and trench warfare, so different from Randell’s home in rural Queensland, took their toll. In December he was hospitalised with bronchitis. His illness was so severe that he was sent to England for recovery, where he contracted the mumps. These two illnesses saw him away from the war for many months, and he did not rejoin his unit until 30 September 1917.

A month later, Randell was on the front line at Broodseinde Ridge in Belgium when his battalion came under heavy German high-explosive artillery shelling. He received a shrapnel wound to his chin that saw him hospitalised for the second time. His family received news that he was injured, but did not have details as to the nature and extent of his wounds. In November 1917, his older sister Ruby wrote to the authorities pleading for information. She wrote, “I am very anxious about him, he is my only brother”.

Randell rejoined the 52nd Battalion in November 1917, and again endured the hardships of a winter in the trenches of the Western Front.

In March 1918, bolstered by newly arrived troops from the Eastern Front, the Germans launched a major offensive along the Western Front in a final bid to win the war. During this difficult period, Randall and the 52nd Battalion defended the line south of the River Ancre in France. On 5 April at Dernancourt, they assisted in successfully defending against the largest attack on Australian forces conducted by German forces in the war.

In late April 1918, Randell and his unit took part in Australian operations to retake the village of Villers-Bretonneux. At 10 pm on 24 April 1918, the attack began. The Australians encountered heavy German high-explosive and shrapnel artillery fire, as well as strong defence from machine-gun positions in a wood to the south of the village.

Randell received severe gunshot wounds to his arm and a fractured skull. He was evacuated to a nearby field ambulance and eventually to a casualty clearing station, but on 29 April he died of his wounds. He was 25 years old.

Private James Archibald Randell 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 James Archibald Randell, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

David Sutton
Historian, Military History Section