The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (2946b) Private Robert Henry McColl, 20th 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 , the story for this day was on (2946b) Private Robert Henry McColl, 20th Battalion, AIF, First World War.

2946b Private Robert Henry McColl, 20th Battalion, AIF
KIA 15 April 1917

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private Robert Henry McColl.

Robert McColl, known as “Bob”, was born on 27 December 1886, the fourth son of Hugh and Hannah McColl of Wilmington, South Australia. Bob’s father had been born in Scotland and came to South Australia as a colonist in the 1870s, taking up farming and grazing. Bob was educated at the nearby Pinda school, and was described as “very popular with all who knew him”. Bob followed in his father’s footsteps by becoming a farmer, moving to New South Wales in 1912 to take up share farming at Greenethorpe. He had seen just enough success to consider striking out on his own when he enlisted to serve in the war.

Bob McColl enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force two years after the war began, going into military camp in August 1916 to begin his training. In October he left Australia for active service overseas with reinforcements to the 56th Battalion. McColl was first sent to England, where he continued training on Salisbury Plain for the winter, and was sent to fight on the battlefields of the Western Front in March 1917. During this time he was transferred to the 20th Battalion.

Private McColl finally reached the 20th Battalion where it was situated in the newly-captured town of Bapaume on 23 March 1917. During this time the Germans opposite the Australian lines had been quietly withdrawing to a strongly prepared defensive position known as the Hindenburg Line. The Australians had been advancing behind, engaging the enemy where possible.

Two days after McColl joined, the 20th Battalion began to move, ending up behind the lines training in preparation for a new attack. On 11 April, as the first battle of Bullecourt began, the men had the chance to have a shower, and then marched out of camp bound for the battlefield. By 14 April, the 20th Battalion was in reserve at Vaulx Vraucourt, a few kilometres from the town of Bullecourt.

At 4.30 am on 15 April, headquarters of the 20th Battalion received the orders to stand-to as the Germans had broken through the line. In heavy, constant rain, the men advanced and engaged the enemy, struggling to re-establish a continuous line. The 20th Battalion’s war diary records that “despite the bad weather, the operations were very brilliantly carried out … and the battalion suffered very lightly in the way of casualties.” In an operation that had captured some 200 prisoners and a German machine-gun, the 20th Battalion had had 16 men wounded, and six men killed.

One of the men killed on 15 April 1917 was Private Bob McColl. Little is known of the manner of his death, nor was his body recovered from the battlefield. Today he is commemorated on the Australian National Memorial at Villers-Bretonneux among the names of more than 10,000 other Australians killed on the Somme who have no known grave. He had been with his battalion on the battlefield for 23 days.

In Greenethorpe, New South Wales, a memorial service was held for Bob McColl at the local Methodist church. In his address to the congregation, the minister “could find no words to speak highly enough of the one from their church who had given his life for his friends. He prayed than an example such as Bob McColl’s life – pure, upright, and God-fearing – would speak to them individually.” The minister concluded by expressing “his pleasure at seeing such a splendid gathering of people to do honour to one so much beloved by all who had known him”.

In South Australia, Bob McColl was remembered by those who knew and loved him. The McColl family put a memorial notice in the newspaper which concluded with the words, “he did his bit”. Bob McColl was 30 years old when he died.

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 Robert Henry McColl, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Meleah Hampton
Historian, Military History Section