Place | Oceania: Australia, New South Wales, Wagga Wagga, Kapooka |
---|---|
Accession Number | PAFU2015/130.01 |
Collection type | Film |
Object type | Last Post film |
Physical description | 16:9 |
Maker |
Australian War Memorial |
Place made | Australia: Australian Capital Territory, Canberra, Campbell |
Date made | 30 March 2015 |
Access | Open |
Conflict |
Second World War, 1939-1945 |
Copyright |
Item copyright: © Australian War Memorial This item is licensed under CC BY-NC |
Copying Provisions | Copyright restrictions apply. Only personal, non-commercial, research and study use permitted. Permission of copyright holder required for any commercial use and/or reproduction. |
The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (NX180219) Sapper Leslie John Mather, 1st Training Battalion, Royal Australian Engineers, Second 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 Craig Berelle, the story for this day was on (NX180219) Sapper Leslie John Mather, 1st Training Battalion, Royal Australian Engineers, Second World War.
Film order formNX180219 Sapper Leslie John Mather, 1st Training Battalion, Royal Australian Engineers
Accidentally killed 21 May 1945
No photograph in collection
Story delivered 30 March 2015
Today we pay tribute to Sapper Leslie John Mather, who was killed in the service of the Royal Australian Engineers during the Second World War.
Born in Nyngan in the Bogan Shire region of central New South Wales on 31 January 1925, Leslie John Mather was the son of Joseph John Mather and Margaret Maude Mather.
Prior to his enlistment in the Second Australian Imperial Force in February 1945 Mather worked as a press operator and plastic molder, and had been a member of the Militia. In May 1945 he was posted to the 1st Training Battalion, Royal Australian Engineers, at the Australian Army training base at Kapooka. However, tragedy struck in the afternoon of 21 May 1945.
Crowded in a dug-out during a routine demolition training exercise on the preparation of hand charges were two groups: one of 22 trainees and two instructors; and one smaller squad of three men and one instructor. Inside the dug-out were 110 pounds of explosives stored for the day’s training exercise. In circumstances that remain unknown to this day, the explosives ignited. In the explosion, 24 men were killed instantly, two died of injuries shortly afterwards, and two more were severely injured.
Mather was one of those killed in the accident. He was 20 years old.
A mass funeral was held for the men in Wagga Wagga three days later. Thousands of people lined the route of the funeral parade. The 26 flag-draped coffins were carried on four army trucks, and the cortège included more than 100 military vehicles carrying members of the army and air force. The dead were buried in the Wagga Wagga War Cemetery.
Mather’s name and those of the other 25 killed in the accident are listed on the Roll of Honour on my left, along with around 40,000 Australians killed in the Second World War.
This is but one of the many stories of service and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Sapper Leslie John Mather, and all of those Australians who gave their lives in the hope for a better world.
Dr Lachlan Grant
Historian, Military History Section
-
Video of The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (NX180219) Sapper Leslie John Mather, 1st Training Battalion, Royal Australian Engineers, Second World War (video)