The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (NX205863) Sapper Joseph William Faull, 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 Robyn Siers, the story for this day was on (NX205863) Sapper Joseph William Faull, 1st Training Battalion, Royal Australian Engineers, Second World War.

NX205863 Sapper Joseph William Faull, 1st Training Battalion, Royal Australian Engineers
Accidentally killed 21 May 1945
No photograph in collection

Story delivered 21 May 2015

Today we pay tribute to Sapper Joseph William Faull, who was killed in the service of the Royal Australian Engineers in 1945.

Born on 30 December 1926 in Parkes, New South Wales, Joseph William Faull was the son of Roy Leonard Faull and Kathleen Amelia Faull.

Growing up during the Great Depression, life was tough for many Australian families. We know little of young Joseph Faull’s early life, but at one point he was convicted by the children’s court in Sydney for stealing.

At the time of his mobilisation in the Militia and then enlistment into the Second Australian Imperial Force in February 1945, Faull was unemployed, though he did have some skill as a carpenter and labourer.

Upon joining the Army he was posted in May 1945 to the 1st Training Battalion, Royal Australian Engineers, at the large Australian Army training base at Kapooka. However, in the afternoon of 21 May 1945, tragedy struck.

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; the other a smaller squad of three men and one instructor. Inside the dug-out were 110 pounds of explosives stored for day’s training exercise. In circumstances that remain unknown, the explosives ignited. In the explosion, 24 men were killed instantly, two died of injuries shortly afterwards, and two more were severely injured.

Faull was one of those killed in the accident. He was 18 years old.

A mass funeral was held for the men in Wagga Wagga, and thousands of people lined the route of the funeral parade. The 26 flag-draped coffins were carried on four army trucks. 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.

Faull’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 others who died 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 Joseph William Faull, and all of those Australians who gave their lives in the hope for a better world.

Dr Lachlan Grant
Historian, Military History Section