The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (957) Private John Ronald Buckmaster, 11th Battalion, 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 Robyn Siers, the story for this day was on (957) Private John Ronald Buckmaster, 11th Battalion, First World War.

957 Private John Ronald Buckmaster, 11th Battalion
KIA 25 July 1916
No photograph in collection

Story delivered 25 July 2014

Today we remember and pay tribute to John Buckmaster, who was killed in France in the First World War. There is no photograph in the Memorial’s collection to display beside the Pool of Reflection.

John Buckmaster was born in 1894, one of four children of John and Emily Buckmaster of Framlingham in Suffolk, Britain. John attended school in Framlingham and worked labouring jobs on local farms before immigrating to Western Australia in 1913. There he worked as a scrub clearer at Wilberforce for the next 12 months.

John enlisted in the AIF at Helena Vale in September 1914, and trained at Blackboy Camp as an original member of the 11th Battalion. He embarked for Europe in November 1914, but the AIF convoy was diverted to join troops of the 1st Division for training in Egypt. On the morning of 25 April 1915 John was among the first Australian troops to land on Gallipoli and spent the following four months fighting on the peninsula. In late August he came down with a serious case of influenza and was evacuated to a hospital in Malta and then to England.

John rejoined the men of the 11th Battalion in Egypt in January 1916. In April the battalion redeployed to the fighting on the Western Front and spent the following weeks in the relatively quiet “nursery sector” in the area around Armentières. Here the men of the 11th Battalion regularly patrolled no man’s land and raided the German trenches in the lead up to their first major action on the Western Front.

In July troops of the 1st Division were transported to the Somme, where the British were making their offensive debut on the Western Front. The 1st Division was given the task of capturing the formidable German stronghold at Pozières, with the 11th Battalion attacking from the south-west corner of the village. Scouts and patrols from the 11th Battalion probed the German defences in the days before the attack.

But John Buckmaster wound not get to take part. On 25 July, just hours before the attack was set to begin, German artillery fired on the Australian positions with high explosives and shrapnel. John was killed by a shellburst as he prepared to take part in the assault. Known affectionately as “Buck” to his mates, he was just 21 when he was killed.

Pozières was subjected to such heavy bombardment over the following weeks that no buildings were left standing. John’s body was never recovered, and he is one of the 10,700 Australians commemorated on the Australian National Monument at Villers-Bretonneux.

John Buckmaster is listed on the Roll of Honour on my right, along with more than 60,000 others from the First World War.

His is one of the many stories of courage and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Private John Buckmaster, and those Australians who have given their lives in service of our nation.