The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (2802) Private Evered William Hope Jury, 45th 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 Sharon Bown, the story for this day was on (2802) Private Evered William Hope Jury, 45th Battalion, AIF, First World War.

2802 Private Evered William Hope Jury, 45th Battalion, AIF
KIA 6 August 1916

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private Evered William Hope Jury.

Evered Jury was born on 19 February 1893 in Goulburn, New South Wales, the son of Marshall and Elizabeth Jury.

Little is known of Jury’s early life. The family moved to Summer Hill on the outskirts of Sydney and prior to joining the Royal Australian Navy, Jury had been working as a butcher.

Jury joined the Royal Australian Navy on 14 April 1914, signing on for a period of five years. He was sent to the Navy’s training establishment HMAS Cerberus in Victoria where he underwent training as a stoker.

After his initial training, he was sent back to Sydney where he was posted to HMAS Encounter on 19 July. However, as the ship was at sea with the rest of the Australian fleet off Queensland he did not join the ship’s company until 30 July when HMA Ships Australia and Encounter returned to Sydney.

War clouds by this stage were looming large over Europe and when war was declared against Germany on 5 August, Encounter sailed north. A week later Encounter intercepted and captured the German steamer Zambezi, the Royal Australian Navy’s first wartime prize.

In September Encounter was part of the large naval escort for the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force which was sent to capture German New Guinea. When submarine HMAS AE1 went missing, Encounter was involved in the search.


Encounter returned to Sydney in November for refit and repair and on 9 December, Jury was posted to HMAS Penguin for shore duty and a period of leave. He returned to Encounter on the 9th of January 1915.

With the whereabouts of the German East Asiatic Cruiser Squadron still unknown, Encounter was sent back to patrol around Samoa and Fiji. On 25 April, the same day as the First AIF was landing at Gallipoli, Encounter captured the German schooner Elfriede.

Once again, Encounter returned to Sydney for a refit. On 8 May Jury was promoted to stoker, but life aboard ship seems to have lost its sheen for him and on 24 June, he deserted from HMAS Encounter. He was one of several crewmen to abscond that month.

Jury didn’t travel too far, and on 1 July he presented himself to the AIF recruiting depot at Liverpool and joined the Australian Imperial Force. As warrants had been issued for his arrest, Jury enlisted as William Henry Carroll.

After his initial training, he was allotted to the 9th Reinforcements to the 4th Battalion. On 30 September, Jury embarked from Sydney with other reinforcements aboard the transport ship Argyllshire, bound for Egypt.

After arriving in Egypt in early January 1916, he was taken on strength of the 4th Battalion. Less than a week later, Jury was hospitalised with venereal disease. He was unable to return to the battalion until mid-March.

With the expansion of the AIF from two to five divisions, Jury was transferred to the newly-raised 45th Battalion at the end of March. He sailed with his unit from Egypt to France at the beginning of June.

Soon after arriving in France Jury was absent without leave. He was awarded seven days Field Punishment Number 2 and heavily fined for his day on the lam.

In preparation for its first major action at the village of Pozieres, the 45th Battalion moved to Albert at the start of August. On 4 August the battalion moved up to the front line. They took over their new positions in the early hours of the next day, with German artillery making the journey particularly tough going.

The German bombardment continued throughout the night and into the following morning. Just after 4 am the Germans launched an attack. Although the attack was easily repulsed, the 45th Battalion suffered two officers and 30 men killed and 70 others wounded. Among the dead was Evered Jury.

His body was unable to be located and today his name is commemorated on the Australian National Memorial at Villers-Bretonneux. He was 23 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 Private Evered William Hope Jury, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Michael Kelly
Historian, Military History Section