The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (1821) Private Frederick Norman Craig, 12th 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 (1821) Private Frederick Norman Craig, 12th Battalion, AIF, First World War.

1821 Private Frederick Norman Craig, 12th Battalion, AIF
KIA 24 April 1918

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private Frederick Norman Craig.

Fred Craig was born on 6 June 1893 to John and Mary Craig of Tasmania. He grew up in Adventure Bay, where his father had settled after leaving Scotland and travelling around the world. Fred was the fourth of four boys and had six sisters. He was educated at the Adventure Bay State School, and went on to work as a saw miller like his father. He was described as a “fine young citizen, who commanded the respect and esteem of all whose privilege it was to have known his sterling qualities.”

Fred Craig was one of three Craig brothers to enlist in the Australian Imperial Force, doing so in January 1915. He underwent a period of training in Australia before leaving for active service overseas with reinforcements to the 12th Battalion. He was first sent to Egypt, writing to his family that “we had a good trip across, it was a bit rough for the first week, but all the rest of the time it was calm.” In reply to a letter suggesting he had been “feeding the fishes” on the way over, he proudly wrote, “I was not sick once, and I never missed a meal, so I think that I can call myself as good a sailor as any of them.”

Arriving in Cairo just weeks after the landing at Anzac Cove, Private Craig was quickly aware that the hospitals were full of wounded Australians. He wrote home, “I suppose when you get this letter I will be at the Dardanelles, for we are ready to go at any time now. I will be able to give more news next time.” He could be in no doubt what he was headed for.

In June Private Craig wrote, “ I have been in the trenches three weeks now and I think we will be in the trenches a long time yet. It is not too pleasant, with bullets flying all around us all day and night, and at times shells bursting over us… [but] I am quite used to it now.” Like many men on Gallipoli, Private Craig fell sick with dysentery and had to be evacuated to hospital. After the first occasion he wrote, “I received splendid treatment in the hospital. They looked after me “tip-top”, I could get almost anything I asked for, and in one way I was sorry to leave, but I was anxious to get back to “pop” some more Turks over.”

The second time Craig contracted dysentery he was so sick he had to be evacuated to hospital in Woolwich in England. He wrote to his sister from hospital to say, “I hope I will be home for next Christmas. I think the war will be over in about six months’ time if we are lucky.”

Private Craig was still in hospital when the Australians started to arrive in France, and was only receiving intermittent news from the front and letters from home. He wrote to his sister, “I do not know where any of my friends are—they might be killed for all I know.” He would rejoin his mates on the battlefields of the Western Front in August 1916. Shortly after his arrival, the 12th Battalion took part in an attack on Mouquet Farm, capturing its objectives before being forced to withdraw.

Private Fred Craig was proving to be an able soldier. A member of a Lewis gun crew, in early 1917 he was awarded the Military Medal for his “devotion to duty under heavy rifle and machine gun fire” during an enemy attack on the French village of Lagnicourt. When the German force broke through on the left flank, Craig and his number one, Private Cyril Allen, carried their gun forward under heavy fire. It was reported that they then “kept up a steady but deadly fire, and repell[ed] a heavy frontal attack, catching the enemy in a massed formation. By their soldier[ly] qualities, these two men materially assisted in holding an important position.”

Early in 1918 the German Army broke through the trench lines of the Western Front in a series of sudden and vicious attack that saw the allied defences stretched to breaking point. By April the German supply and communication lines were stretched to breaking point, and their advances slowed in the face of staunch opposition. A few weeks afterwards, reports were received in Tasmania that Private Craig was missing in action.

Investigations took some time. It was later discovered that on 23 April the 12th Battalion was in a position near the village of Meteren in France. As the battalion was being forced back by an enemy attack, Craig was badly wounded and had to be left behind. While reports differ on whether he was still alive as the Australians were forced back, it was clear that he had not returned with his mates. Once it was established that he had not been taken prisoner by the Germans and could not be found anywhere else, Craig was determined to have been killed in action on 24 April 1918. His body was never recovered, and today he is commemorated on the Australian National Memorial at Villers-Bretonneux. He was 24 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 Frederick Norman Craig, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Meleah Hampton
Historian, Military History Section