The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (2585) Private Cecil Annesley Dunphy, 3rd 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 (2585) Private Cecil Annesley Dunphy, 3rd Battalion, AIF, First World War.

2585 Private Cecil Annesley Dunphy, 3rd Battalion, AIF
DOW 19 November 1915
Photograph: P04231.015 (left)

Story delivered 13 June 2015

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private Cecil Annesley Dunphy.

Cecil Dunphy was born in Armidale to John and Miriam Dunphy. He grew up in Tamworth in northern New South Wales and attended the Tamworth Superior Public School. Following his education, Dunphy went to work on the railways and became a fireman stoking the coal-fired engines of locomotives.

Dunphy enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on 10 June 1915. He was assigned to the 18th reinforcements of the 3rd Battalion for his training, where he met and became friends with Patrick Kinchington. Cecil asked Kinchington to let his parents know if anything happened to him.

After a period of training in Egypt, Private Dunphy was sent to join the 3rd Battalion at Anzac Cove. He arrived on 2 November 1915, three days after his friend Patrick Kinchington. Although the major offensives were over, Gallipoli was still a dangerous place. On 19 November Cecil Dunphy was struck by an artillery shell and died. He had been at Anzac 17 days.

Patrick Kinchington kept his word to write to the Dunphys in Australia:

[Cecil] met the fate that many good men before him met, and which many more of us have yet to meet, and I can only hope and trust that we will meet it as he met it. It is painful to have to inform you of such a loss, knowing that you gave a son to the country in order to uphold honour, justice and freedom and the prosperity that we enjoy, and to defend the defenceless ones.

Cecil Dunphy, a man held in high esteem by his mates for his “manly way and kindly disposition”, was buried at Ari Burnu on the day he died. He was 23 years old.

His name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my right, along with more than 60,000 Australians who died during the First World War. He can be seen standing in the photograph 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 Private Cecil Annesley Dunphy, and all those Australians who have given their lives in the service of our nation.

Dr Meleah Hampton
Historian, Military History Section