The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (876) Lance Sergeant Josephus Fullagar, 7th 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 Craig Berelle, the story for this day was on (876) Lance Sergeant Josephus Fullagar, 7th Battalion, AIF, First World War.

876 Lance Sergeant Josephus Fullagar, 7th Battalion, AIF
KIA 25 April 1915

Today we remember and pay tribute to Lance Sergeant Josephus Fullagar.

Josephus Fullagar was born in December 1894, the second oldest son of Ada and Charles Fullagar of Faversham, Kent, in the south-east of England. His father died when Josephus was around ten years old, leaving Ada widowed in her 30s. As a result, Josephus worked as a brewer’s assistant from a young age to help make ends meet. As a teenager, he gained valuable experience by serving in the East Kent Regiment, a local militia force.

In April 1914, at the age of 19, Fullager left London by himself to start a new life as a farm labourer in Australia. Soon after arriving, he took up work on a farm near Bridgewater-on-Loddon, north-west of Bendigo in Victoria. He soon gained a reputation in the region as an “upright young man” who made many friends.

The First World War began just months after Fullagar’s arrival in Australia, and he was among the first to enlist. On 18 August 1914 he joined the newly formed 7th Battalion and began training at Broadmeadows. His experience in a militia force in England enabled him to enter the unit at the rank of lance sergeant. In October 1914, he sailed with the first contingent of the AIF from Melbourne to Albany in Western Australia, and then to Egypt, where Australian and New Zealand forces prepared for the landings on Gallipoli.
Fullagar and the 7th Battalion camped and trained at Mena, near Cairo, and in early April 1915 sailed to the Greek island of Lemnos in the Aegean Sea.

On 25 April 1915, Fullagar and the 7th Battalion were in the second wave of troops to land on Gallipoli at what is now known as Anzac Cove. Troops of the 7th Battalion were towed towards the beach at 5.30 in the morning, and were fired on before they even reached the shore. In heavy and confused fighting, the Australians were able to occupy some Turkish trenches near the landing beach, but faced constant rifle, machine-gun and shrapnel fire. The 7th Battalion suffered terrible casualties, an estimated 400 dead, wounded and missing in the single day.

Fullagar was lost in the chaotic fighting, and the exact circumstances of his death, and his final resting place, are unknown.

He is listed on the Lone Pine Memorial, which records the names of more than 4,900 Australian and New Zealand servicemen who died on Gallipoli and have no known grave.
He was 20 years old.

Lance Sergeant Josephus Fullagar’s 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 Lance Sergeant Josephus Fullagar, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

David Sutton
Historian, Military History Section