The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (1780) Private Denis Lane, 7th Australian Infantry Battallion, 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 (1780) Private Denis Lane, 7th Australian Infantry Battallion, AIF, First World War.

1780 Private Denis Lane, 7th Australian Infantry Battallion, AIF
DOW: 11 April 1918

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private Denis Lane.
Denis Lane was born in 1891, in the city of Cork, Ireland, the youngest son of John and Mary Ann Lane. He attended school in that city, and then followed his father’s profession, becoming a house painter. As a young man, Lane emigrated to Australia, and worked as a painter in Melbourne.

In February 1915, soon after the outbreak of war, Lane volunteered to enlist in the Australian Imperial Force. He trained at Broadmeadows camp north of Melbourne, before leaving Australia on the transport ship Wiltshire in April. He undertook training briefly on his arrival in Egypt, and then landed on the Gallipoli peninsula in June. There, he joined his unit, the 7th Australian Infantry Battalion. Within a week, however, Lane had to be evacuated to hospital, as he was suffering from tonsillitis.

Lane recovered in hospital in Egypt and returned to Gallipoli in the middle of August. Illness became rife during the warmer months in the cramped and fly-infested trenches, and Lane contracted dysentery in early September. He left the peninsula again, and spent time in British hospitals in Malta, before being transferred to hospital in London. Lane recovered over the winter months and returned to training in England in the first part of 1916. While in England, he met Catherine Moses, and the two appear to have begun a relationship. Once he was fit for duty, he sailed to France and joined his unit in July 1916.

The 7th Battalion had fought in the battle of Pozieres just before Lane had re-joined his unit, and within three weeks, it was back in the front lines. During the middle of August, the unit spent a week at the front, holding the line and improving the trenches and observation posts. During this time it suffered heavy casualties to German machine-gun and artillery fire, losing more than a third of its members either killed or wounded.

The 7th Battalion moved out of the front line at the end of August, and spent the rest of the year in positions in the Somme river valley, training and spending time in the front lines. The French winter of 1916 to 1917 was the coldest in memory, and the Australians struggled to remain healthy in the extreme conditions. Lane became ill early in December, and was sent to a hospital behind the lines, where he remained for two weeks.

At the end of the year, Lane was granted two weeks leave in England, and during his time there, he married Catherine, whom he had met the year before. He returned to the 7th Battalion in February 1917, and in May the unit joined in the second battle to capture the French village of Bullecourt. During the attack, the British and Australians came under heavy German fire, but Lane’s unit was in a supporting role and suffered very few casualties.

The 7th Battalion moved behind the lines to continue training during the summer months of 1917. In autumn, it moved into the sector near the French border with Belgium, in preparation for the major British assault into Belgian Flanders. The unit took part in the battle of Menin Road in late September, the first in a series of battles known collectively as the third battle of Ypres. In this battle, the 7th Battalion suffered 200 casualties, just over a quarter of its strength. The assault foundered in the mud when heavy rain began in October, and Canadian forces eventually consolidated the British position in November. Throughout the winter months, Lane’s unit remained in the Ypres sector, training and improving the defensive positions.

Lane contracted a middle ear infection in late December, and was evacuated to a hospital in France until March. On the day he returned to his unit, German forces launched an enormous assault in what would be their final attempt to win the war. Known now as the German Spring Offensive, it aimed to capture the important rail-hub city of Amiens near the Somme River. The 7th Battalion were rushed south to help defend this vital transport depot.

On 11 April 1918, the unit was preparing to move north again, and Lane was one of the party loading soldiers’ packs onto a transport train. A German shell landed in the station, and four soldiers were killed immediately. Lane was struck by shell fragments in the chest, and died later that day. He was 26 years old.

Lane is buried in Namps-au-Val British Cemetery, alongside the graves of more than 400 Commonwealth and French soldiers. His widow Catherine chose the epitaph: “Gone from those who loved him dearly, without a last farewell”.
Private Denis Lane 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 Denis Lane, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Thomas Rogers
Historian, Military History Section