The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (3389A) Private Edgar William Thomas Humphry, 51st 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 Troy Clayton, the story for this day was on (3389A) Private Edgar William Thomas Humphry, 51st Battalion, AIF, First World War.

3389A Private Edgar William Thomas Humphry, 51st Battalion, AIF
DOW 30 September 1917
No photograph in collection

Story delivered 16 July 2015

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private Edgar William Thomas Humphry.

Born in Kent, England, Edgar Humphry moved with his family to Pingelly in Western Australia when he was 14 years old. He was working as a blacksmith when he enlisted in October 1916, aged 18. His parents were still living at Pingelly, a wheat-belt village about 160 kilometres from Perth.

Humphry was assigned to the 51st Battalion, raised in Egypt in March 1916 as part of the doubling of the AIF. He left for England on 29 January 1917, arriving in late March. The battalion was made up fairly equally of Gallipoli veterans from the 11th Battalion and fresh reinforcements from Australia. Predominantly composed of men from Western Australia, the 51st Battalion became part of the 13th Brigade of the newly-formed 4th Australian Division.

Humphry went into a training camp, but within weeks he was admitted to hospital with influenza, closely followed by a bout of measles. He returned to his training battalion in mid-June.

Humphry joined his unit in France at the start of August, by which time the 51st Battalion was fighting in the Ypres sector in Belgium. His first weeks were spent in fatigue work, including road building and construction of communications and support trenches. He undertook further training to prepare for “forthcoming operations” – in this case, the battle of Polygon Wood.

Beginning on 26 September, Polygon Wood was the Australian component of a larger British and dominion operation, staged as part of the Third Battle of Ypres. The infantry advanced behind a heavy artillery barrage and secured most of its objectives without difficulty. The 51st Battalion met little resistance from the Germans, and the war diary records casualties as minimal. The battalion consolidated its gain by laying barbed-wire entanglements before being relieved by the 46th Battalion and moving back into reserve positions at Westhoek Ridge.

On 29 September the battalion was burying cable and making tracks in the forward area, when Humphry was shot, receiving wounds to his arm and leg. He died the following day at the 17th Casualty Clearing Station and was buried at the Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery in Belgium.

Edgar Humphry was a Salvationist. His last letters home contained news of a Salvation Army meeting, where he had received a blessing and re-consecrated himself. He also declared that if he survived the war he would devote his life to serving God. He added: “But, dear mother, if I don’t return, please remember my last words, ‘Take care, and don’t work too hard,’ and God will be with you till we meet again.”

The name of Private Edgar Humphry 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 Edgar William Thomas Humphry and all those Australians who have given their lives in the service of our nation.

Emma Campbell
Writer, Military History Section

Sources:
51st Battalion War Diary, September 1917, Australian War Memorial: AWM4 23/68/19.

Roll of Honour circular.

National Archives of Australia, service record, Edgar William Thomas Humphry.

Lieutenant Colonel John Bond, The army that went with the boys: a record of Salvation Army Work with the Australian Imperial Force, Salvation Army National Headquarters, Melbourne, 1919.