The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (6175) Private Alfred Ernest Tucker 24 Battalion, AIF, 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 Charis May, the story for this day was on (6175) Private Alfred Ernest Tucker 24 Battalion, AIF, First World War.

6175 Private Alfred Ernest Tucker 24 Battalion, AIF
KIA 5 October 1917
No photograph in collection

Story delivered 5 October 2014

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private Alfred Ernest Tucker.

Alfred Tucker was born at Ballarat, Victoria, in 1881 to Bartholomew and Helen Tucker. He left middle school early to undertake a builder’s apprenticeship and, after qualifying, moved to Tasmania.

There he met Florence Elizabeth Speed, and on 12 February 1903 the pair was married at Chalmers’ Manse, Hobart. By 1907 the couple had three children, after which time the family moved to Sydney and settled at Woolhara. Another two children were born into the family in the ensuing years.

Tucker, now a qualified master builder, was plying his trade in Sydney when the First World War began. He enlisted for service with the AIF on 11 May 1916 at Victoria Barracks and was initially sent to Cootamundra for training. He later returned to Sydney and attended a course for non-commissioned officers, after which he was promoted to acting corporal.

On 30 October he embarked from Sydney aboard the transport ship Argyllshire. By this time, his wife was pregnant with their sixth child. On arrival in England, he was sent to Larkhill for further training, where he lost his rank due to those places already being filled.

In April 1917 he embarked for France and in May was taken on strength of the 24th Battalion only days after the battalion had suffered 80 per cent casualties in the Second Battle of Bullecourt.

The battalion next saw action in October, when it was involved in the capture of Broodseinde Ridge on 4 October. The next afternoon, as the battalion was set to be relieved from the front line, the Germans bombarded the 24th’s positions. Tucker and several other men were killed by a shell while heading up relief elements from another battalion. Tucker was buried near where he fell, but in the ensuing fighting his grave was lost. Following the end of the war, he was commemorated on the Menin Gate Memorial.

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

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