The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (1262) Lance Corporal Arthur Thomas Elphick, 16th Battalion, 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 Emily Hyles, the story for this day was on (1262) Lance Corporal Arthur Thomas Elphick, 16th Battalion, First World War.

1262 Lance Corporal Arthur Thomas Elphick, 16th Battalion
DOW 6 May 1915

Today we remember and pay tribute to Lance Corporal Arthur Thomas Elphick.

Arthur Elphick was born on 28 June 1883 to John and Sarah Elphick. Born in Owen, a small town between Balaklava and Tarlee on the Adelaide Plains, when he was an infant his family moved to Wallaroo on the Spencer Gulf, where he grew up. He was educated at the Sisters of St Joseph School at Wallaroo, and went on to work as a plasterer. Arthur’s father had died of consumption when he was nine years old, and Arthur grew up to be his widowed mother’s sole means of support. He was described as a man “of fine physique, and popular locally;” “highly esteemed by his many friends at Wallaroo.”

Arthur Elphick took an interest in military matters from a young age. Serving nine or ten years in his local citizens militia regiment, Elphick was known as “one of the crack rifle shots” of his company. He was reportedly desperate to enlist for service during the Boer War, but given he was just 16 years old when the first South Australian contingent left for service in South Africa, and already his mother’s sole support, she refused to give her consent.

When war broke out in August 1914, Arthur Elphick was 31 years old, and very quick to enlist in the Australian Imperial Force. Although well past the minimum age of enlistment, a newspaper noted his enlistment was done with his mother’s consent. He became one of the South Australian members of the 16th Battalion, three quarters of which came from Western Australia. The two cohorts met in Victoria, where they trained together, and sailed for active service overseas just before Christmas 1915.

The 16th Battalion arrived in Egypt in February 1915. They continued training in the Egyptian desert for some weeks before moving to the island of Lemnos in April. On 25 April 1915 the 16th Battalion “sailed from Lemnos in splendid weather”. As they approached the Gallipoli peninsula, the men could hear the guns firing in the distance. They disembarked in the early hours of 26 April, joining the men who had been at the forefront of the dawn landing on the heights above the beach over the following days.

On 3 May 1915, Private Arthur Elphick was shot in the right buttock. Exactly how he sustained his wound was not recorded. He may have been a member of the party from the 16th Battalion that was sent to extend their line around the area of Fisherman’s Hut that day. He was badly wounded, and probably had to be carried to the beach. From there he was taken to the hospital ship Gascon, bound for hospital in Egypt.

Private Arthur Elphick never reached Egypt. He died of his wounds on board the Gascon on 6 May 1915. With no means of safely transporting bodies back to Egypt for burial, the crew of the Gascon buried Private Elphick at sea.

Today Sarah Elphick’s only son is commemorated on the Lone Pine Memorial on the heights above Anzac Cove. At war for less than a year, he was 31 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 Lance Corporal Arthur Thomas Elphick, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Meleah Hampton
Historian, Military History Section