The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (3547) Private Francis Herbert Jenkin, 60th 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 (3547) Private Francis Herbert Jenkin, 60th Battalion, AIF, First World War.

3547 Private Francis Herbert Jenkin, 60th Battalion, AIF
DOW: 25 July 1916

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private Francis Herbert Jenkin.

Francis Jenkin, known as “Frank”, was born in 1892 to Francis and Sarah Jenkin of Bendigo, Victoria. He was educated at Sandhurst Grammar School, and went on to study at the Bendigo High School until 1910. After completing his education he worked for some time as a clerk in a lawyer’s office, later going to work for the Railway Department. He was a chorister at All Saints’ Church in Bendigo, and while he was at high school, he served three years in the senior cadets.

Frank Jenkin enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in July 1915. After undergoing a period of training in Australia he left for active service overseas with reinforcements to the 21st Battalion. Leaving in November 1915, he arrived in Egypt at around the same time as the recently evacuated troops from Gallipoli. From that point the AIF underwent a period of expansion and reorganisation as the men continued training in the desert. As part of this process, Frank Jenkin, who had been serving with the temporary rank of corporal, was transferred to the 60th Battalion, and reverted to the rank of private.

In June the 60th Battalion followed the other Australian battalions to France to fight on the Western Front. Although it was among the most recently arrived, and the least experienced in trench warfare conditions, it was the first to be committed to a significant operation.

On 19 July 1916 the 60th Battalion was part of a force comprising parts of the 5th Australian Division and the 61st Imperial Division which attacked German positions near the French village of Fromelles. The operation was intended to delay German reserves from joining the battle of the Somme to the south by tying them up in battle on the Aubers Ridge. It was a disastrous failure, with almost 5,500 Australian casualties in a matter of hours. The 60th Battalion was virtually wiped out, with 757 men killed, missing or wounded.

Among the wounded was Private Frank Jenkin, who was evacuated from the battlefield with part of his face shot away. He was taken to hospital in the town of Boulogne on the English Channel, presumably with a view to getting him to England as soon as possible. However, his wounds proved mortal, and he died at 10.50 am on 15 July 1916.
Frank Jenkin was buried in the Boulogne Eastern Cemetery, where he lies today. A member of the AIF for one year and four days, mortally wounded in his first few hours of fighting, Private Francis Herbert Jenkin died at 22 years of age.

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 Francis Herbert Jenkin, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Meleah Hampton
Historian, Military History Section