The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (241) Lance Corporal Francis Leopold Dashwood, 10th Battalion (Infantry), First World War

The Last Post Ceremony is presented in the Commemorative area of the Australian War Memorial every 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 Joanne Smedley, the story for this day was on (241) Lance Corporal Francis Leopold Dashwood, 10th Battalion (Infantry), First World War.


**Due to technical issues this recording is of poor quality and not for public display.**

241, Lance Corporal Francis Leopold Dashwood 10th Battalion
KIA 25 April 1915
No photograph in collection

Story delivered 11 August 2013

Today, we remember and pay tribute to Lance Corporal Francis Leopold Dashwood.

Francis Dashwood was born in Norwich in England in about 1882, later immigrating to Australia and working as a miner in Broken Hill, New South Wales. Dashwood had served in the Royal Artillery regiment in Britain for four years, and enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in August 1914. He chose to enlist in the infantry, and was quickly promoted to lance corporal. He left Australia on HMAT Ascanius in October with the 10th Battalion, landing in Alexandria. In March 1915 they boarded the Ionian, bound for Gallipoli.

Early on the morning of the 25th of April, the 10th Battalion transferred into various smaller vessels to make their way to the shore of ANZAC Cove. The 10th Battalion war diary describes what happened next:
No sound was heard except the splash of the oars. We thought that our landing was to be effected quite unopposed, but when our boats were within about 30 yards of the beach, a rifle was fired from the hill in front of us & almost immediately heavy rifle and machine gun fire was opened upon us. We had to row for another 15 yards or so before we reached water shallow enough for us to get out of the boats & but all bravely and silently made all haste to reach the beach under a perfect hail of bullets.

On this day, Lance Corporal Dashwood was killed in action, aged 33. The particulars of his death - whether he was one of those killed by enemy fire on the beaches of ANZAC Cove or drowned in the slippery shallows of Anzac Cove - is unknown. So is his final resting place, lost in the confusion of the landing and the subsequent desperate attacks and counter-attacks.

Lance Corporal Dashwood's name is on the Lone Pine Memorial on Gallipoli, which commemorates more than 4,900 Australian and New Zealand servicemen who died there with no known graves - including those who died at sea and were buried in the waters of the Dardanelles.

Lance Corporal Francis Leopold Dashwood is listed on the Roll of Honour to my right, along with more than 60,000 other names from the First World War. There is no known photograph of him to place by the Pool of Reflection.

This is one of the many stories of courage and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Lance Corporal Francis Leopold Dashwood and all those Australians who have given their lives in the service of our nation.