The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (6251) Private Francis Charles Finlayson, 13th 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 Craig Berelle, the story for this day was on (6251) Private Francis Charles Finlayson, 13th Battalion, AIF, First World War.

6251 Private Francis Charles Finlayson, 13th Battalion, AIF
KIA 4 February 1917


Today we remember and pay tribute to Private Francis Charles Finlayson.

Francis Finlayson, known as “Frank”, was born in the Sydney suburb of Redfern on 5 November 1888, the son of James and Ann Finlayson. Raised in Parramatta, his father, who was a warehouseman, died in April 1896, and Frank seems to have been close with his uncle, Bill Finlayson, a butcher and prominent citizen of Parramatta. Frank went on to work as a bookkeeper. In 1910 he married May Gosper, already pregnant with their first child. They would have two more children over the next four years.

The First World War began in August 1914, and after the initial rush to enlist in the Australian Imperial Force, recruitment slowed. In 1915 a man from Gilgandra, Bill Hitchen, came up with the idea of an enlistment march, gathering men to the cause as the column made its way to a recruitment centre. Hitchen’s “Coo-ee March” became famous as it wound its way through New South Wales from Gilgandra to Dubbo, Bathurst and Katoomba. Towards the end of the year the “Coo-ees” made it to Parramatta, and Frank Finlayson joined them.

Whether Finlayson had been planning to enlist, or whether he simply got swept away by patriotic fervour, by the time the march made it to Sydney, it was too late to change his mind. Most of the members of the Coo-ee March left Australia in March 1916 after undertaking military training. However, Frank had a different experience for reasons that remain unclear. He stayed in Australia until September 1916, when he left Sydney Harbour on board the troopship Euripides, bound for England.

Private Frank Finlayson arrived in England in late October 1916. He continued training on Salisbury Plain for nearly three months before crossing the English Channel to join the 13th Battalion on the Western Front. He had arrived in France during one of the coldest winters on record, and most of the time was spent rotating in and out of the front line, holding until the weather allowed more offensive operations.

On the night of 4 February 1917, the 13th Battalion undertook a raid on a German trench near the French village of Gueudecourt. The battalion captured all of its objectives, but suffered under an extremely heavy German artillery bombardment and repeated counter attacks until it could be relieved. Another member of the 13th Battalion, Corporal Charlie Carr, was near Frank Finlayson during the operation. He recalled how Frank, “was in the same platoon, and had only just joined us up. It was his first time in the trenches. He had great nerve, and proved himself a splendid fighter. We had just attacked and taken the German position, when they opened up terribly heavy artillery fire. Frank bravely went out to carry in a wounded German, and got in quite safely.” It would be one of his last acts. Just a few minutes later he was killed by a German high explosive shell.

Frank Finlayson’s body was lost in later fighting and today he is commemorated on the Australian Memorial at Villers-Bretonneux. He was 29 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 Francis Charles Finlayson, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Meleah Hampton
Historian, Military History Section