The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (2671) Private Albert Carl Otto Molde, 48th 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 Troy Clayton, the story for this day was on (2671) Private Albert Carl Otto Molde, 48th Battalion, First World War.

2671 Private Albert Carl Otto Molde, 48th Battalion
DOW 25 August 1916
No photograph in collection

Story delivered 31 July 2014

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private Albert Carl Otte Molde.

Albert Molde was born in Norwood, a suburb of Adelaide. He worked as a plumber and was married to Hilda “Doll” Hutchins, with two sons. He enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force and was sent to Egypt with reinforcements to the 32nd Battalion.

He arrived at a time when the AIF was undergoing a process of enlargement and reorganisation, and as a result Molde was transferred to the 48th Battalion. He was joined by his brother-in-law, William Hutchins, who was also transferred to the 48th after returning from Gallipoli. They were sent to France to fight on the Western Front.

In early August 1916 the 48th Battalion was involved in the fighting around Pozières and the OG lines. It took over the lines from the 27th Battalion, and found them to be “just one mass of craters”, a place where artillery fire had destroyed the landscape and even the trenches they were supposed to be manning. The battalion suffered heavy casualties on the journey into the lines and in the days following. On the morning of 7 August, the battalion was attacked by the Germans, who succeeded in getting into the Australian trench. After some heavy fighting they were driven out, and the line re-established and strengthened.

The 48th Battalion suffered over 500 casualties. One was William Hutchins, who was killed in action. The other was Private Molde, who was shot through the spine. He survived this wound long enough to make it to a hospital near Boulogne, on the English Channel, but shortly afterwards succumbed to his serious wounds, dying in hospital on 25 August 1916. He was buried in the Wimereux Communal Cemetery, aged 28.

The names of Privates Albert Carl Otto Molde and William Harold Hutchins are listed on the Roll of Honour on my right, along with more than 60,000 others from the First World War. There is no photograph in the Memorial’s collection to display 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 Albert Carl Otte Molde, and all of those Australians who have given their lives in the service of our nation.