The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (981) Private Francis Edward Dwyer, 11th 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 (981) Private Francis Edward Dwyer, 11th Battalion, AIF, First World War.

981 Private Francis Edward Dwyer, 11th Battalion, AIF
KIA 21 June 1915
No photograph in collection.

Story delivered 18 April 2015

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private Francis Edward Dwyer.

Francis Edward Dwyer was born on 14 October 1875, the second of four children born to Owen and Elizabeth Dwyer in Oberon, New South Wales.

Little is known about his early life, but by 1900 he had moved to Geraldton, Western Australia, and was working as a clerk. In April that year Dwyer enlisted for service in South Africa with the 4th Imperial Bushmen. He embarked with his unit from Fremantle in May, arriving at Port Elizabeth in June. During his time in South Africa, Dwyer’s unit saw plenty of active service, including the battles of Bethlehem, Rhenoster Kop, and Wittebergen. He returned to Australia in July 1901, and was released from service in August.

At the outbreak of the First World War, Dwyer had moved to Meekatharra and was working as a clerk. He travelled to Perth and on to Blackboy Hill Camp, where he enlisted in the newly formed 11th Infantry Battalion.

In November Dwyer embarked from Fremantle aboard the transport ship Ascanius. Crowded conditions aboard another transport saw the 11th Battalion’s C and D companies join the 10th Battalion aboard the larger vessel, Medic. The following day the two transports joined the 1st AIF convoy, which had departed from Albany on 31 October.

The initial days of the voyage were filled with some excitement, especially when HMAS Sydney left her post and steamed to intercept and destroy the German raider Emden.

Further excitement followed after a stop at Colombo, when Ascanius rammed another transport, Shropshire, when the latter vessel stopped suddenly for what was thought to be a man overboard. All of the men aboard from the 10th and 11th Battalions, most of whom had been asleep, calmly went on deck with their life-preserves in preparation for an evacuation. An inspection by one of the convoy escorts showed the damage to both ships was above the water-line, and both vessels were able to continue their journeys.

The 11th Battalion spent until the end of February 1915 training in Egypt, after which they sailed for Lemnos in preparation for the Gallipoli campaign. Dwyer landed on Gallipoli with the first wave of Australians in the pre-dawn hours of 25 April. In the following weeks the Australian line was consolidated, and on 19 May a large Turkish counter-attack was bloodily repulsed. Dwyer was involved in holding the 11th Battalion’s line at the head of Victoria Gully.

The manner of Dwyer’s death is unrecorded but it is likely he was a member of the 11th Battalion’s covering force on the forward slope of Silt Spur on 21 June, while other members of the battalion dug new trenches behind them. The covering force was subjected to Turkish rifle and machine-gun fire, but Dwyer was the only fatal casualty for the battalion that night. He was 41 years old.

He was initially buried in the 11th Battalion Cemetery in Victoria Gully, but was later moved to Brown’s Dip and, in 1923, to his final resting place in the Lone Pine Cemetery.

Dwyer’s 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 service and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Private Francis Edward Dwyer, and all of those Australians who have given their lives in service of our nation.

Michael Kelly
Historian, Military History Section