Hunter Valley brothers honoured at Australian War Memorial

The Australian War Memorial in Canberra will be commemorating the service and sacrifice of two brothers who served in the First World War and were killed within months of each other during the conflict. Hunter Valley brothers Private Henry Thomas Furner and Private George Leonard Furner will be honoured at the Last Post Ceremony on Sunday 5 October 2025.

“George Furner was born on the 2 May 1887 in Paterson, New South Wales, the first of eight children born to Edmund and Barbara Furner. Henry Furner, known to his family as Harry, was born two years later,” Australian War Memorial historian Michael Kelly said.

Harry and George’s mother died in 1903 at the age of 37. George was 16 and Harry 14. The boys became closer with their youngest sister Matilda, who they called “Tilly”, at this time.

By the time the First World War began, George was working as a selector at Curricabark, and Harry was working as a farm labourer at Allynbrook.

While they were in uniform, both brothers wrote to Tilly, keeping their news light, but seeking news of friends, family and home.

Both brothers were killed at the end of 1917. Henry had been severely wounded in the chest and spine by machine-gun fire and was evacuated to the 11th Stationary Hospital at Rouen. Harry’s wounds proved mortal, and he died on the 18 October. He was 27 years old.

On the 20 December, George’s unit came under light German artillery fire. During the shelling George exited the dugout he had been occupying as a German shell landed nearby. He was heard to cry out, but by the time anyone reached him, he was dead. He was 30 years old.

The Last Post ceremony is held at 4.30 pm every day except Christmas Day in the Commemorative area of the Australian War Memorial.

Each ceremony shares the story behind one of 103,000 names on the Roll of Honour. To date, the Memorial has delivered more than 4,100 ceremonies, each featuring an individual story of service from colonial to recent conflicts. It would take more than 280 years to read the story behind each of the 103,000 names listed on the Roll of Honour.

“The Last Post Ceremony is our commitment to remembering and honouring the legacy of Australian service,” Memorial Director Matt Anderson said.

“Through our daily Last Post Ceremony, we not only acknowledge where and how these men and women died. We also tell the stories of who they were when they were alive, and of the families who loved and, in so many cases, still mourn for them.

“The Last Post is now associated with remembrance but originally it was a bugle call to sound the end of the day’s activities in the military. It is a fitting way to end each day at the Memorial.”

The Last Post Ceremony honouring the service of Private Henry Thomas Furner and Private George Leonard Furner will be live streamed to the Australian War Memorial’s YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/c/awmlastpost.

The stories told at the Last Post Ceremony are researched and written by the Memorial’s military historians, who begin the process by looking at nominal rolls, attestation papers and enlistment records before building profiles that include personal milestones and military experiences.

HANDOUT images: Supplied by the Furner Family: Private George Leonard Furner and Private Henry Thomas Furner