The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of Lieutenant James Charles Roberts, 1st Victorian Mounted Rifles, Boer 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 Lieutenant James Charles Roberts, 1st Victorian Mounted Rifles, Boer War.

Lieutenant James Charles Roberts, 1st Victorian Mounted Rifles
DOW 13 February 1900
Photograph: P04321.004

Story delivered 12 February 2015

Today we remember and pay tribute to Lieutenant James Charles Roberts, who died during the Boer War.

James Roberts was born in 1872 in the Victorian town of Rushworth, one of ten children to John and Ellen Roberts. James attended Carlton College in Melbourne, where he did well academically – he was Dux of the college – and on the sporting field, particularly in football. James joined the University of Melbourne corps of officers in 1894, and received his commission in the Victorian Mounted Rifles four years later. He completed an engineering course in 1896, and had just re-entered university as a medical student when he left to join the war effort.

On 12 February 1900 a group of about 200 Victorian, South Australian, and British troops under the command of Victorian Major George Eddy was situated at the far left of the British line at a small rocky ridge called Pink Hill. The Boers – who greatly outnumbered the Australians and British soldiers – attacked at Pink Hill in an attempt to bring in the left flank and force the whole British line to retreat.

The attack began just before noon, and though Eddy’s force hung grimly on in defence for some two hours, they were eventually forced to withdraw.

The battle exacted a severe toll on the Australians. Five men, including Major Eddy, were killed in the fight, while some 20, including James, were wounded. He would become the sixth Australian to die, succumbing to his wounds the following day. He was 28 years old.

News of James’ death caused “quite a gloom” at home. The Melbourne Argus wrote that Roberts was a “highly esteemed officer” and a “well-known resident”, and great sympathy was extended to his widowed mother. In August 1900 the Carlton College “Old Boys” placed a memorial tablet in James’ old classroom and erected an obelisk in the school grounds in his honour. The 17-foot-high memorial was inscribed:

In this park played as a boy Lieutenant James Charles Roberts … who gave his life in the cause of the Queen and Empire in South Africa …

James Roberts’ name is listed on the Roll of Honour to my right, along with the names of nearly 600 others who died fighting in the Boer War. His photograph is displayed today beside the Pool of Reflection.

This is but one of the many stories of service and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Lieutenant James Charles Roberts, and all those Australians who have given their lives in the service of our nation.

Dr Kate Ariotti
Historian, Military History Section

Sources:
L.M. Field, The Forgotten War: Australian Involvement in the South African Conflict of 1899-1902, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 1979, pp. 95–98.

Chris Coulthard-Clark, The Encyclopaedia of Australia’s Battles, Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 1998, p. 66.

“Victorians in Action”, The Argus, 17 February 1900, pp. 13–14.

“Lieutenant Roberts”, Bendigo Advertiser, 17 February 1900, p. 5.

“College Sports”, The Australasian, 3 March 1900, p. 23.

“Late Lieutenant J.C. Roberts”, Sydney Morning Herald, 20 August 1900, p. 8.

www.ancestry.com

National Archives of Australia, J.C. Roberts, Boer War Dossier.