The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (3347) Sergeant David Emmett Coyne, 31st 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 Troy Clayton, the story for this day was on (3347) Sergeant David Emmett Coyne, 31st Battalion, AIF, First World War.

3347 Sergeant David Emmett Coyne, 31st Battalion, AIF
KIA 15 May 1918

Today we remember and pay tribute to Sergeant David Emmett Coyne.

David Coyne was born on 14 March 1896 to David and Anne Coyne of Marian, Queensland. His parents had come to Australia from Ireland as unmarrried emigrants: his father from Tipperary in 1875, and his mother from Longford in 1880. They met and married later that year. David was the youngest of their four sons, and he had six sisters.

His father farmed a property in Marian, and from 1909 his mother and sisters ran a number of hotels in town. Before David was born one of his brothers, Patrick, had died of a fever; and when David was six years old, his oldest brother, then 20, was killed when the horse he was riding bolted and collided with a wagon. David attended the local state school and went on to work the family farm with his father and remaining brother, Anthony.

David Coyne enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in January 1915 at the age of 19. He underwent a period of training in Australia before being sent overseas with reinforcements to the 31st Battalion. He was first sent to Egypt, but fell ill and was later transferred to hospital in England to recover. He arrived in France just as the bitterly cold winter of 1916 and 1917 set in. His health was not good as his battalion rotated in and out of the line, and eventually he was sent back to England.

Coyne made a good recovery in England and undertook specialist training at bombing school. He eventually qualified as a bombing instructor, and spent months teaching at the Southern Command Bombing School at Lyndhurst, only returning to the 31st Battalion in the field in October 1917.

Because of Sergeant Coyne’s specialist training, his platoon commander often asked him to inspect the bomb supplies to make sure they were in good order. On 15 May 1918, Coyne became concerned that a box of Mills bombs might have been damaged by water, and resolved to test one. He cleared the trench and made sure there was nobody in no man’s land, then went to throw one out of the trench. However, something went wrong – some witnesses thought his hand might have caught the back of the trench, others that his foot slipped – and the bomb fell into the bottom of the trench.

His company commander later recounted what happened next.

By the time the bomb had reached the bottom of the trench one second had gone. The night was pitch dark, and [David] spent another two and a half seconds in a vain attempt to find the bomb and throw it out again. With one and a half seconds to go he decided that as it had been his mistake he would take the full consequences instead of allowing the others to be wounded and perhaps killed. With a ‘here goes’, he flung himself flat on the bottom of the trench over the approximate position of the bomb so that when it exploded his body should act as a damper to stop the fragments from flying and injuring the others.

Coyne’s brave act ensured that nobody else was wounded by the blast. And somehow he survived too. Private Reginald Sullivan called out “Is anyone hurt?” and Coyne answered, “Yes, Sully, I got the whole issue. I laid on the bomb. I didn’t think you had time to get out.” He then asked Sullivan if anyone else was hit. When told that no one else had been hit, Coyne replied, “I’m glad of that.”

Remarkably, despite being hit in the face, neck, chest, right arm and right leg with at least 20 wounds, Sergeant Coyle survived being carried to company headquarters. There he had a shot of rum and smoked a cigarette, and even managed to joke with people there. His company commander later recalled, “He went through the whole proceedings, although he must have been enduring perfect agony. A man who can do this is lion-hearted … [it was] one of the biggest acts of self-sacrifice I have heard of, and I am proud to be able to say he belonged to my company.”

Sergeant David Coyne was taken to a nearby casualty clearing station where his wounds proved too much, and he died. He was later recommended to be awarded the Victoria Cross. Because his act of great valour had not come in the face of the enemy, he was awarded the Albert Medal in Gold, the civil decoration to recognise the saving of life and the precursor to the George Cross. He was the only Australian soldier to receive one during the First World War.
Twenty-two years later, during celebrations for his parents’ diamond wedding anniversary, David’s feat was remembered as “something to be proud of, and his name should live forever in the Coyne family.”

Today David Coyne lies in the Vignacourt British Cemetery under the words “He gave his life to save his comrades. Rest in peace.” He was 22 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 Sergeant David Emmett Coyne, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Meleah Hampton
Historian, Military History Section