The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (6216) Private Elson Robert Acland, 4th 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 Jennifer Surtees, the story for this day was on (6216) Private Elson Robert Acland, 4th Battalion, AIF, First World War.

6216 Private Elson Robert Acland, 4th Battalion, AIF
KIA: 6 May 1917

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private Elson Robert Acland.

Elson Robert Acland was born on 24 September 1896, the second oldest of seven children born to Alfred and Sarah Acland, in the Blue Mountains, New South Wales. Acland attended a local public school in Katoomba, and later took a seven-year apprenticeship as a carpenter with Burns and Blackwood, a building company. He also gained valuable military experience by training in a cadets unit, and serving in the 41st Regiment of a local militia unit.

Acland enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on 25 January 1916. At the time of his enlistment, Australians who were not yet 21 years of age were required to provide a letter of consent from their parents. Like many young men at the time, Acland lied about his age, saying he was 21 in order to be allowed to serve. He soon began training with the reinforcements of the 4th Australian Infantry Battalion.

On 9 September 1916, he embarked from Sydney aboard the transport ship Euripides for England, where he arrived in October and continued his training. In February 1917, he sailed for France and the war on the Western Front.

He joined his unit, the 4th Battalion, for the first time in the field as they were behind the lines near Fricourt, east of Albert and north of the Somme River. Less than two weeks later he had his first taste of front-line trench warfare when he moved with his battalion into the lines at Le Barque.
Acland spent the next two months facing the hardships and horrors of trench warfare, cycling between front line duties and rest behind the lines, as the Australians pursued German forces retreating to a heavily defended series of trenches known as the Hindenburg Line.

In early May 1917, Acland and the 4th Battalion took part in what has now become known as the Second Battle of Bullecourt, a successful but extremely costly engagement in which the AIF lost nearly 7,500 casualties in 15 days’ hard fighting.

In this battle, Australian and British troops attempted to take a heavily defended portion of the Hindenburg Line near the town of Bullecourt. The initial attack, which began on 3 May, successfully took portions of the German trenches, but soon came under persistent German counter-attacks.

Acland and the 4th Battalion joined the battle by relieving battle-weary Australian troops of the 6th Brigade, and immediately came under heavy German high-explosive and shrapnel artillery fire. For the next two days the 4th Battalion served either by manning front-line defences, or by waiting in reserve to support front-line positions during a German assault.

On 6 May 1917, Acland and the 4th Battalion were waiting in a reserve positon near a railway embankment when they came under an extremely heavy German artillery barrage that caused significant casualties. At 2 pm they moved forward to front-line positions, and at night took part in a moderately successful bombing raid of the German lines.
Acland was killed in action during the fighting on this day – probably in the German artillery barrage or during his battalion’s bombing raid.

He was 20 years old, and had been in France for less than four months.

He was dearly missed by his family, who received many expressions of sympathy from the local community. A lieutenant from Acland’s unit wrote to Acland’s parents: “I feel his loss very much, and he will be hard to replace. You lose a son, and I a gallant soldier.”

Acland was buried near Bullecourt, not far from where he fell, but in the chaos and confusion of the fighting, the exact location of his resting place was lost.
His name is listed on the Australian Memorial at Villers-Bretonneux, which gives the names of more than 10,700 Australians of the First World War who have no known grave.

Private Elson Robert Acland’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 Private Elson Robert Acland, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

David Sutton
Historian, Military History Section