The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (1718) Private Joseph Cecil Roseman, 49th Battalion, 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 (1718) Private Joseph Cecil Roseman, 49th Battalion, First World War.

1718 Private Joseph Cecil Roseman, 49th Battalion
KIA 4 September 1916

Today we remember and pay tribute to Joseph Cecil Roseman.

Joseph Cecil Roseman was born on 9 September 1894 in Cecil Plains, to the south of Dalby in Queensland. Roseman was the youngest of nine children born to Nicholas Roseman, who was born in Germany, and Jane Morgan, a Scottish immigrant. Roseman attended the local Cecil Plains School and later worked as a station hand. Roseman’s mother died in 1913, when he was 19 years old.

Roseman enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on 17 December 1915 at Rockhampton and immediately began his training. Joseph was one of three of the Roseman children to sign up to serve for Australia in the First World War.

On 20 April 1916, Roseman sailed from Sydney aboard the SS Hawkes Bay bound for Egypt. Australian troops at this time were sailing to Egypt for what was known as the “doubling of the AIF’. It was a period of growth and reorganisation in which new battalions were created, and units recently evacuated from Gallipoli were reinforced with new recruits. On 27 May 1916, Roseman joined the newly formed 49th Battalion, part of the 13th Brigade of the 4th Australian Division.

Roseman trained in Egypt in preparation for service on the Western Front in France. Conditions in the deserts of Egypt were harsh for the men. While Roseman and his battalion were marching to the Australian camp at Serapeum, many troops suffered from heat stroke and exhaustion. Water was so scarce that guards had to be posted by the water troughs to prevent the men from drinking too much and making themselves ill.

Roseman sailed from Alexandria in Egypt on 5 June and arrived in France on 12 June. On 21 June, after less than two weeks in the country, Roseman and the 49th Battalion had their first taste of the hardships and horrors of trench warfare. They joined the front line near Pozieres, in the Somme region of northern France, and spent their time manning and rebuilding the badly damaged trenches. Throughout this period, they experienced intense German high explosive artillery shelling and suffered heavy casualties.

On 3 and 4 September 1916, Roseman and the 49th Battalion took part in a major battle at Mouquet Farm. The battle had been raging there since 8 August. Roseman and his unit were used to form part of a renewed attack to gain ground at the important objective.

Roseman and his unit advanced through no man’s land in the early hours of 3 September after an artillery barrage, and despite heavy German artillery, machine-gun and rifle fire, they were able to take some German positions. The next day, on 4 September, the Germans launched a series of counter-attacks on the Australian positions, which eventually forced the Australians to withdraw.

Roseman was killed in action at some point in this costly and bloody battle: most likely at some point during the German counter-attacks on 4 September. In the chaos and confusion of the battle, his body was never found. He was 22 years old.

His name is listed on the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial in France, which lists the names of nearly 11,000 Australians who died on the Western Front and have no known grave.
His name is commemorated 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 Joseph Cecil Roseman, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

David Sutton
Historian, Military History Section