The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of 2/Lieutenant John Oliver Ethell, 23rd Battalion, AIF, First World War.

Places
Accession Number AWM2021.1.1.123
Collection type Film
Object type Last Post film
Physical description 16:9
Maker Australian War Memorial
Place made Australia: Australian Capital Territory, Canberra, Campbell
Date made 3 May 2021
Access Open
Conflict First World War, 1914-1918
Copyright Item copyright: © Australian War Memorial
Creative Commons License This item is licensed under CC BY-NC
Copying Provisions Copyright restrictions apply. Only personal, non-commercial, research and study use permitted. Permission of copyright holder required for any commercial use and/or reproduction.
Description

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 Richard Cruise, the story for this day was on 2/Lieutenant John Oliver Ethell, 23rd Battalion, AIF, First World War.

Film order form
Speech transcript

2/Lieutenant John Oliver Ethell, 23rd Battalion, AIF
KIA 4 October 1917

Today we remember and pay tribute to Second Lieutenant John Oliver Ethell.

John Ethell was born in South Africa in March 1896, the eldest son of Alfred and May Ethell’s large family. John’s parents were born in England, but had married in Cape Town, where his father, Alfred, was working as an accountant. Alfred served during the Boer War, and brought his family to Australia within two years of the war ending. The family lived in Melbourne for about 18 months before Alfred made the decision to enter the church. The family then moved to Queensland, where Alfred became the first student trained at the Brisbane Theological College. The family moved around with Alfred’s job, and young John was educated through a mixture of state schools and private tuition. He went on to work as a teacher at the Laidley South State School, although his father would later say that his ultimate intention was to enter the church.

John Ethell – who was a prominent member of the Laidley Rifle Club, and a member of the Laidley branch of the Church of England Men’s Society – was accepted for service with the Australian Imperial Force in August 1915, after having been turned down at least once because of a heart condition. He underwent a period of training in Australia, before returning home for his final leave. On that visit, the Church of England’s men’s society held a special meeting at which Ethell was presented with the gift of “a handsome wristlet watch” from his fellow members.

Private John Ethell left Australia in November 1915 with the 6th Field Company Engineers on board the troopship Ceramic. He was first sent to Egypt, where he spent two months with the medical corps details of the engineers. In March he was sent to France, but after only a few weeks his right knee became severely inflamed, and he was forced to go hospital in England, spending two months in a hospital in Northampton.

After several more months in convalescent camps and training depots, Ethell was ready to return to the 6th Field Company Engineers. In November 1916 he was billeted near the battalion of a good friend, Roland Seccombe. He went to visit him, but found that Private Seccombe had been killed in action. Ethell wrote, “the corporal said Rolly did for seven or eight [Germans] before he was lost sight of … what a glorious death, fighting for King and country. If I have to die let it be a similar death.”

Ethell served with the engineers through the bitterly cold winter of 1916 and 1917, but in April 1917 he transferred to the 23rd Battalion. Shortly afterward he was promoted to second lieutenant.

In May 1917, the 23rd Battalion took part in the second battle of Bullecourt. Although it captured all of its objectives, the 23rd Battalion suffered its heaviest casualty rate of any single day at Bullecourt. Ethell was wounded by shell fragments in both arms and a leg, and was evacuated to hospital in England. He was hospitalised in Wandsworth, London, before being discharged to convalesce at Perham Downs.

Second Lieutenant John Ethell returned to his battalion from England in late August 1917. Thirty-eight days later his battalion was in the front line, preparing to take part in the battle of Broodseinde Ridge. On 3 October, Allied artillery fired a series of practice barrages in preparation for the next day. The Germans retaliated, firing a heavy bombardment on the 23rd Battalion’s position. Second Lieutenant John Ethell was killed. He was 21 years old.

Although Ethell’s body was buried, and a photograph of the grave was sent to his father, the location of his grave was lost in later fighting. Today his name is commemorated on the Menin Gate, among more than 54,000 men who died in Belgium and have no known grave.

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 Second Lieutenant John Oliver Ethell, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Meleah Hampton
Historian, Military History Section

  • Video of The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of 2/Lieutenant John Oliver Ethell, 23rd Battalion, AIF, First World War. (video)