The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (4170) Private Frank Warren Pinkham, 23rd 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 Craig Berelle, the story for this day was on (4170) Private Frank Warren Pinkham, 23rd Battalion, First World War.

4170 Private Frank Warren Pinkham, 23rd Battalion
KIA 9 October 1917

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private Frank Warren Pinkham.

Frank Pinkham was born on the 3rd of July 1879 in Adelaide. He was the son of Wilmer and Charlotte Pinkham and received his education in Melbourne at Cambridge Street State School. In 1907, he married Edith May Attwood and they later had two children, Warren Wilba Vermont in 1908, and Olive May in 1913.

At the outbreak of war in 1914, Frank Pinkham was working as a bricklayer in Collingwood. He enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on 13 August 1915 and was assigned to the 23rd Battalion. The battalion embarked from Melbourne the following year on board the troopship Wiltshire.

Private Pinkham arrived on the Western Front on 3 August 1916 after a short stay in Egypt where his unit had undergone further training. His first major action took place at the battle of Mouquet Farm, following the successful capture of the village of Pozieres the month before. The ruins of Mouquet Farm were located in a strategically important position on the ridge extending north-west from Pozieres. The cellars of the former farm had been incorporated into German defences, making it a dangerous objective for advancing troops. Here, the Australians made nine separate attacks between 8 August and 3 September 1916 at a cost of over 11,000 casualties.

Private Pinkham survived the carnage at Mouquet Farm, but was taken ill in November, suffering from a boil on his neck which required months of recovery in England. In February 1917, he rejoined his unit before taking part in the bloody fighting at the second battle of Bullecourt in May, where Australian units took over 7,000 casualties. In August, Private Pinkham was briefly granted leave, and returned to the front lines in September ahead of his battalion’s next major battle at Broodseinde Ridge on 4 October.

Following allied success at Broodseinde, fighting continued in an attack launched at Poelcappelle on 9 October 1917. Heavy rain had turned the battlefield into a quagmire, making the passage of troops, guns and ammunition nearly impossible. The conditions prevented allied troops from holding any ground, and they were eventually driven back in a futile attack which resulted in more than 1,200 casualties. Among the dead at Poelcappelle was Private Frank Pinkham.

Initially reported missing, it was later discovered that he had been killed in action during the advance at Poelcappelle. He was last seen on the battlefield, where he had been hit in the abdomen by a machine gun bullet which killed him almost instantly. His comrade later recalled that he saw Pinkham’s body lying out in the open, where he was “gasping his last breath”.

News of Private Pinkham’s death reached his family in Australia who posted a notice in the local newspaper:

“They went with the hope of returning,
along with their comrades so brave;
with many a hero they’re sleeping,
in a soldier’s honoured grave.”

Private Frank Pinkham was never seen again. Today he is remembered on the Menin Gate Memorial in Ypres along with more than 54,000 other soldiers who have no known grave. He was 38 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 Frank Warren Pinkham, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Meghan Adams
Researcher, Military History Section