The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (3527) Private Philip Talbot Wilkinson, 11th 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 Troy Clayton, the story for this day was on (3527) Private Philip Talbot Wilkinson, 11th Battalion, AIF, First World War.

3527 Private Philip Talbot Wilkinson, 11th Battalion, AIF
KIA 30 May 1916

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private Philip Talbot Wilkinson.

Philip Wilkinson was born on 19 October 1885 in West Bengal, India, to Charles and Alice Wilkinson. His parents had been born in India, having most likely been brought there through employment with the British East India Company, possibly with others working in the British administration or British military forces. Philip’s mother was the headmistress of Cathedral Girls School, Lahore, and then the Mayo School at Simla. Philip spent most of his early life in Bengal, where he began his education. As a young man, he served with the Punjab and Calcutta Volunteer Rifles.

In 1906 Philip Wilkinson enrolled in medical school in Edinburgh. He did not complete his studies. Instead, he came to Australia and took up work as a farm hand. On the outbreak of war in 1914 he was farming at “Cardonia”, a farm near Kellerberrin, with the well-known farmer, historian and naturalist Bruce W. Leake.

Philip Wilkinson enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in early September 1915, a little over a year after the outbreak of war. He began his training at Blackboy Hill training camp, and was eventually posted to the 11th reinforcements of the 11th Battalion. Private Philip Wilkinson left Australia for active service overseas on board the troopship Ulysses on 2 November 1915.

Despite arriving in Egypt around Christmas time, Wilkinson did not join his battalion until early March 1916. It is unclear where he spent the intervening period, although it is possible that he was seconded to the No. 3 Training Battalion.

Wilkinson left Egypt with his battalion at the end of March 1916, arriving in Marseilles in early April. In May, the battalion entered a relatively quiet sector of the front line near Sailly-sur-la-Lys in France, giving the men an experience of trench conditions on the Western Front. For the next two weeks Wilkinson and his comrades remained in the front line, occasionally coming under heavy enemy artillery bombardments.

On 30 May 1916, four days before it was relieved from front-line duty, the 11th Battalion came under a fierce German artillery bombardment. Two officers and 36 other ranks were killed in an incessant hail of high explosive and shrapnel fire. Among the dead was Private Philip Talbot Wilkinson. His body was removed from the battlefield and buried in Rue-Petillon Military Cemetery, not far from where he was killed. Today, his remains lie underneath the inscription, “I have fought a good fight I have kept the faith.” Killed in his first experience of trench warfare, Philip Wilkinson was 30 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 Philip Talbot Wilkinson, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Meleah Hampton
Historian, Military History Section