The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (6) Corporal Selwyn Lord Curlewis, 16th 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 Richard Cruise, the story for this day was on (6) Corporal Selwyn Lord Curlewis, 16th Battalion, AIF, First World War.

6 Corporal Selwyn Lord Curlewis, 16th Battalion, AIF
KIA 2 May 1915
Photograph: H06123

Story delivered 29 January 2015

Today we remember and pay tribute to Corporal Selwyn Lord Curlewis.

Selwyn Curlewis was born in Victoria on 28 February 1887, the second son of George and Lilla Curlewis. He spent the first eight years of his life in Victoria before his family moved to Western Australia. There he attended the Geraldton State School and went on to become a clerk and accountant. Curlewis worked for Dalgety and Company for many years, spending time in their Geraldton, Fremantle, York, Albany, and Carnarvon branches. He was a very likable man, and wherever he was stationed he was noted to have made a lot of friends. While at Carnarvon he resigned and took up farming at East Brookton near his father’s property.

Selwyn Curlewis was still farming at Brookton on the outbreak of the First World War. He and his brother Campbell were the first of four brothers to enlist. They went together in early September to the enlistment office, and were given the consecutive service numbers of 5 and 6. Their youngest brother, Arthur, followed a week or so later, and in October their eldest brother, Gordon, also enlisted.

All four brothers were part of the second contingent of the Australian Imperial Force sent for overseas service. Selwyn, Campbell, and Gordon were all posted to the 16th Battalion, while Arthur served in the 12th Battalion. Selwyn proved an able soldier, and was promoted to corporal early in 1915.

The four brothers all landed on Gallipoli on 25 April 1915, and survived the hectic confusion of the first few days. But on 2 May, one week after the landing, Selwyn was killed in action. One week after that, Gordon was killed. No records survive to say how either met their death. Selwyn’s body was never recovered, and today he is commemorated on the Lone Pine memorial on the peninsula.

In August the Curlewis family received another blow. During the fighting at Lone Pine, Arthur received serious gunshot wounds to the face and chest. Although he was successfully evacuated to Alexandria for treatment in the hospital there, he died three days later.

Only one of the Curlewis brothers returned to Australia. Campbell received a head wound early in the campaign, but stayed on duty. Later in the year he fell ill, and was evacuated from the Gallipoli peninsula with a chest infection. In December 1915 he was repatriated to Australia with tuberculosis. On his return he said, “It was [his] duty to go, and [he] did not deserve so much praise, but [he was] glad to have it.” George Curlewis, having lost three of his sons to war, never returned to farming.

The names of Selwyn, Gordon, and Arthur Curlewis are listed on the Roll of Honour on my right, along with the names of more than 60,000 others from the First World War.

This is but one of the many stories of service and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Corporal Selwyn Lord Curlewis, his brothers Captain Gordon Levason Curlewis and Corporal Arthur Grenville Curlewis, and all those Australians who have given their lives in the service of our nation.

Dr Meleah Hampton
Historian, Military History Section

Sources:
“A patriotic family”, Western Mail, 9 April 1915, p. 15.

“Personal”, Queenscliff Sentinel, Drysdale, Portarlington, Sorrento Advertiser, 5 June 1915, p. 2.
http://static.awm.gov.au/images/collection/pdf/RCDIG1068862--448-.PDF.

“Western Australian casualties”, The West Australian, 28 June 1915, p. 7.

“YMCA soldiers: welcome to returned members”, West Australian, 17 December 1915, p. 7.