The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of Lieutenant Richard Hampden Guthrie, 27th 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 David Sutton, the story for this day was on Lieutenant Richard Hampden Guthrie, 27th Battalion, AIF, First World War.

Lieutenant Richard Hampden Guthrie, 27th Battalion, AIF
DOW 6 November 1916

Today we remember and pay tribute to Lieutenant Richard Hampden Guthrie.

Richard Guthrie was born on 16 April 1890, the only son of Walter and Violet Guthrie of Wallington in Surrey, England. He was educated at Sutton, and went on to study the shipping and mercantile business. He was a keen sportsman and was a member of the South London Harriers athletics club. Richard Guthrie came to Australia in 1911 to work for Messrs Elder, Smith and Co as a shipping clerk. Initially working in Adelaide, he later worked in branches at Port Adelaide and Port Pirie. In Australia he retained his keen interest in sport, both as an athlete and as a prominent member of the Adelaide Rowing Club and the Glenelg Golf club. It was later reported that “through his cheery and happy disposition he won his way to many Australian hearts”.

Richard Guthrie had served as a naval cadet for many years while living in England, and on the outbreak of war in 1914 offered his services to the Royal Australian Navy. With no vacancy at the time, the navy turned him down and so Guthrie enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force. He proved an able soldier and was quickly promoted during the training process. In May 1915 he received his commission as a second lieutenant and was posted to the newly-formed 27th Battalion. The battalion left Australia in June, and after further training in Egypt, landed at Gallipoli. Again, Guthrie proved a valuable member of the 27th Battalion and was promoted to lieutenant on the peninsula.
After being on Gallipoli for six weeks, Lieutenant Guthrie fell sick with dysentery and enteritis and was evacuated from Gallipoli to hospital, first in Egypt. After a medical board found him “incapacitated for military service” for a period of two months, he was sent to England. His condition was so weak after his illness that he actually continued on lighter duties in England until the following July, returning to the 27th Battalion after nearly nine months away.

Lieutenant Guthrie reached the 27th Battalion shortly before the 1st Australian Division captured the French village of Pozieres. The 27th Battalion conducted a number of attacks in the area to make the most of this success, notably capturing the fortified windmill the Germans had been using as an observation post on the edge of the village. The battalion was later withdrawn to a quieter sector of the front in Belgium to recover.

Towards the end of 1916 the 27th Battalion again headed south to the Somme, and in early November participated in operations near the French village of Flers. On 5 November the 27th Battalion attacked a German position known as Bayonet Trench. They managed to capture part of their objective through heavy mud and staunch resistance, holding it for an hour and a half until they were forced to withdraw.

Lieutenant Guthrie was one of five officers wounded during the attack, in which the 27th Battalion suffered more than 280 casualties. He was taken to the 1st Anzac Medical Dressing Station suffering from severe wounds to his chest. He died there the following day and was buried at Dartmoor Cemetery in nearby Becordel-Bécourt . He was 26 years old.

His name 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 Lieutenant Richard Hampden Guthrie, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Meleah Hampton
Historian, Military History Section