The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (1331) Private Thomas Elevious Ellefsen, 7th Battalion, Australian Imperial Force, 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 Craig Berelle, the story for this day was on (1331) Private Thomas Elevious Ellefsen, 7th Battalion, Australian Imperial Force, First World War.

1331 Private Thomas Elevious Ellefsen, 7th Battalion, Australian Imperial Force
KIA 25 April 1915
Photograph: H05882

Story delivered 9 July 2015

Today we pay tribute to Thomas Elevious Ellefsen, who was killed on active service with the Australian Imperial Force on 25 April 1915.

Born in the small town of Yarram in the south-east Gippsland region of Victoria, Tom Ellefsen was the third son of Thomas and Elise Ellefsen.

Tom Ellefsen attended the local state school, and went on to work as a farm labourer in Alfredton, which is now a suburb of Ballarat, Victoria. He was working in the government workshops in Ballarat when war broke out in August 1914.

Ellefsen enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on 1 October 1914, aged 24, and was posted to the 7th Battalion.

After a period of training, Ellefsen embarked from Melbourne in February 1915 with the 2nd reinforcements aboard HMAT Clan McGillivray. He was sent to Egypt for further training, and was with his battalion for the Gallipoli landings on 25 April 1915. In the confusion of the landing Ellefsen went missing, and it would be months before his fate was determined.

Hours before going ashore Ellefsen had written a letter to his father, stating that they had received word to be ready to land, and he was waiting alongside his friend W.L. Taylor. It was the last word his father would receive from his son. Taylor was wounded during the attack, and never saw his friend again.

A court of inquiry later determined that Ellefsen was missing, presumed killed in action, on 25 April. His parents would not receive confirmation of his death until late in October 1916, 18 months after he went missing.

Ellefsen’s name is commemorated on Gallipoli at the Lone Pine Memorial to the Missing, and back home on the Ballarat Avenue of Honour.

His name is also listed here on the Roll of Honour to my right, along with more than 60,000 others from the First World 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 Private Thomas Elevious Ellefsen, and all of those Australians who have given their lives
in service of our nation.

Dr Lachlan Grant
Historian, Military History Section

Sources:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour Circular.

“Private T.E. Ellefsen”, Gippsland Mercury, 25 June 1915, p. 3.

“Family notices”, Gippsland Standard & Alberton Shire
Representative, 24 April 1918, p. 2.