The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (2109) Private Martin McNamara, 36th Australian Infantry 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 (2109) Private Martin McNamara, 36th Australian Infantry Battalion, AIF, First World War.

2109 Private Martin McNamara, 36th Australian Infantry Battalion, AIF
KIA: 10 June 1917

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private Martin McNamara.

Martin McNamara was born in Sydney in the early 1880s to John and Frances McNamara.

As a young man, he was working as a labourer in Cowra when he met Mary Doonan. The couple married and had four surviving children: Doris, John, Francis and Robert. In about 1910 the family moved to Dulwich Hill, in Sydney’s inner western suburbs, where Martin continued to work as a labourer.

In March 1916, McNamara went to Sydney Showground at Moore Park to volunteer for service in the Australian Imperial Force. He undertook initial training in Australia before leaving Sydney on the transport ship Anchises in August. Arriving in England in October, he undertook further training there, and joined his unit, the 36th Australian Infantry Battalion.

In November, the battalion travelled to France to join the fighting on the Western Front. Arriving at positions in northern France, the men trained and spent time in front-line trenches during the coldest winter in local memory. Even in late March, the battalion’s war diary noted tersely: “Snow falling. Cold intense”.

In the first week after arriving in France, the 36th Battalion had been bombed by German aircraft and had also undertaken training in the use of gas masks. Such was their introduction to the nature of modern warfare.

In summer 1917, British commanders turned their attention north towards the Franco-Belgian border. The 36th Battalion had its first experience of battle in early June, when it was in reserve during the British capture of the town of Messines. During the march through Ploegsteert Wood to the front line, the men came under a heavy enemy artillery barrage of gas shells. The bombardment slowed the men’s progress, but they struggled through it wearing gas masks, and most made it to their appointed positions on time.

On the evening of 10 June 1917, the battalion was ordered to raid a system of German trenches known as “La Potterie Farm”. The raid began at 11 pm, but while the Australians were forming up to attack, the Germans began shelling the Australian trenches. McNamara was standing in a front-line trench when a shell exploded close to him and he was killed instantly. His company commander, Captain Francis Piggott, and a message-runner in the battalion, Private Percy Sieman, were also killed in the blast.

Martin McNamara was about 30 years old.

He was buried in Toronto Avenue Cemetery, a small cemetery in Belgium that contains the graves of 78 Australians who were killed during the First World War.

McNamara was survived in Australia by his widow Mary and their four children, Doris, John, Francis and Robert.

Private Martin McNamara 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 Martin McNamara, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Thomas Rogers
Historian, Military History Section