The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (1378) Private Karl Richard Ljung, 50th Battalion (Infantry), 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 Richard Cruise, the story for this day was on (1378) Private Karl Richard Ljung, 50th Battalion (Infantry), First World War.

1378 Private Karl Richard Ljung, 50th Battalion
KIA 2 April 1917
No photograph in collection (image used from Adelaide Chronicle, 19 May 1917, p.39)

Story delivered 31 October 2013

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private Karl Richard Ljung.

Karl Ljung was born in Finland and immigrated to Australia as a young man, leaving his mother and family behind. He was working in Adelaide when the First World War broke out, and decided to enlist in the AIF. He had to establish his identity with the Imperial Russian Consulate in Adelaide before the army would accept him - Finland being part of Russia at this time - but he gained permission and joined the 10th Battalion in December 1914.

Private Ljung - "Dick" to his Australian friends - was at the landing on Gallipoli where the 10th Battalion provided a covering force. However, trench life was physically hard for the young Finn, and he spent time in hospital on Mudros and in Cairo with jaundice and then a hernia. Each time he rejoined his unit as soon as he was fit, but he missed the evacuation from ANZAC Cove.

After Gallipoli, Ljung was transferred to the 50th Battalion as a part of the reorganisation of the AIF. He was left behind when the battalion left Egypt for France, suffering in hospital from a seriously ulcerated foot. Because of this injury he missed the battles on the Somme around the French village of Pozières, but he rejoined his battalion shortly afterward and spent an extended period in the trenches.

In April 1917, following the Germans' withdrawal to the Hindenburg Line, the 50th Battalion was ordered to the village of Noreuil, an outpost to the enemy's strong defensive work. After a hard fight they succeeded in capturing the village, but sustained a number of casualties in the process.

Dick Ljung was one of those casualties. Little is known of the manner of his death, but he was buried in a battlefield graveyard with more than 80 others from the 50th Battalion. Later shell fire destroyed this graveyard and Ljung's grave was lost; he is now commemorated in a special memorial in the Noreuil Australian Cemetery.

Ljung was remembered in Australia by his friends Mr and Mrs Glazbrook of Birkenhead. He had the respect of all who knew him in Australia and was sadly missed in his new country.

His name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my right, along with more than 60,000 others from the First World War, and his photograph is displayed today beside the
Pool of Reflection.

This is but one of the many stories of courage and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Private Karl Richard Ljung, and all of those Australians who have given their lives in service of our nation.