The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (3913) Private Reginald Alfred Johnson Palmer, 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 Richard Cruise, the story for this day was on (3913) Private Reginald Alfred Johnson Palmer, 11th Battalion, AIF, First World War.

3913 Private Reginald Alfred Johnson Palmer, 11th Battalion
KIA 25 July 1916

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private Reginald Alfred Johnson Palmer.

Reginald Palmer, known as Reg, was born in 1890 to George and Martha Palmer of Alberton in Adelaide, South Australia. He was brought up in Port Adelaide, where he was a member of the Sunday school of the local congregational church. Reg was educated at the Alberton Public School. After completing his education, Palmer moved to Western Australia, and took up work as a farm labourer. When he was in his late teens his father left the family, and seems to have cut off contact with them. Reg became an important source of financial support for his mother, sending home money from Western Australia.

After war broke out in August 1914, Palmer attempted to enlist in the Australian Imperial Force but was turned down due to problems with his eyesight. As an increasing number of men were needed at the front, however, enlistment standards slackened, and Palmer was accepted for service in September 1915.

Private Reg Palmer underwent a period of training in Australia before leaving for active service overseas on board the RMS Mongolia on 16 November 1915. He was first sent to Egypt, where he continued training in the desert. Just after Christmas, the Anzac force evacuating from Gallipoli began to arrive back in Egypt in large numbers, and the AIF underwent an extended period of training and reorganisation. For at least part of this time Palmer was in hospital suffering from the mumps.

In April 1916 the 11th Battalion was sent to France to fight on the Western Front. On 23 July the 11th Battalion took part in its first major operation in the Battle of the Somme, when it helped to capture the French village of Pozieres. Although the village was successfully captured, the 11th Battalion’s sector was in a precarious position for two or three days, with only a thinly-held line holding the front together, while large numbers of men moved into the wrong positions in heavy artillery fire, or became casualties.

When the battalion was withdrawn it was discovered that Private Reg Palmer was missing. It took some time to determine that he had been killed in action on or around 25 July 1916. One of his mates, Private R. J. Bransby, later gave evidence that he had heard that Palmer had been wounded badly in the head, chest and other places during the battle, and that he had died in the ambulance on the way from the dressing station to the casualty clearing station just behind the Pozieres battlefield.

Later, Private Palmer’s few belongings were sent home to his mother. They included his badly damaged spectacles.

Private Reginald Palmer was buried not far from where he died, and today he lies in the Pozieres British Cemetery at Ovillers-La Boisselle under the simple epitaph, “the utmost for the highest”. He was 27 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 Reginald Alfred Johnson Palmer, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Meleah Hampton
Historian, Military History Section