The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (2130) Private Percy Henry Sieman, 36th Australian Infantry Battalion, AIF, First World War.

Places
Accession Number AWM2021.1.1.206
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 25 July 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 Troy Clayton, the story for this day was on (2130) Private Percy Henry Sieman, 36th Australian Infantry Battalion, AIF, First World War.

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Speech transcript

2130 Private Percy Henry Sieman, 36th Australian Infantry Battalion, AIF
KIA: 10 June 1917

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private Percy Henry Sieman.

Percy Henry Sieman was born in 1886 to Gustav and Mary Siemann in St Peters, an inner-west suburb of Sydney. Little is known about his childhood. He worked as a labourer in Sydney’s western suburbs, and in 1913 he married Ruby Finney. The couple had three children, John, Alfred and Ruby.

In March 1916, Sieman 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. With his light hair and fair complexion, Sieman was known to his comrades as “Snowy”.

In November, the battalion was posted 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 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.

During the battle, Sieman was a runner – running messages to and from his company’s captain.

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. Sieman had just delivered a message to his company commander, Captain Piggott, when both men were struck by a shell and killed instantly.

Snowy Sieman was 30 years old.

Sieman 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. His grieving widow Ruby chose the inscription for his headstone: “Some day, some time our eyes shall see thy face that lives in memory”.

He was survived in Australia by his widow and their three children, John, Alfred, and Ruby.

Private Percy Henry Sieman 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 Percy Henry Sieman, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Thomas Rogers
Historian, Military History Section

  • Video of The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (2130) Private Percy Henry Sieman, 36th Australian Infantry Battalion, AIF, First World War. (video)