The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of Lieutenant Colonel Carew Reynell, 9th Australian Light Horse Regiment, 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 Lieutenant Colonel Carew Reynell, 9th Australian Light Horse Regiment, AIF, First World War.

Lieutenant Colonel Carew Reynell, 9th Australian Light Horse Regiment, AIF
KIA 28 August 1915
Photograph: H19213

Story delivered 28 August 2015

Today we remember and pay tribute to Lieutenant Colonel Carew Reynell.

Carew Reynell was born on 16 September 1883 near Magill, South Australia, to well-known viticulturist and wine maker Walter Reynell and his wife, Emily Bakewell. He was the second of three children, and the first son born to the couple.

Reynell grew up on his family’s vineyard at Reynella Farm, near the town of the same name, both of which had been named for his grandfather John Reynell, who had planted the first vineyard in the area in 1841. He attended the Collegiate School of St Peter’s in Adelaide until the age of 17, when he returned to the family farm and began to learn the craft of winemaking.

In 1903 Reynell became manager, and the vineyards grew in size and production, with brandy a particular interest of his. The Reynella “hospital” brandy became the leading brandy in Australia.

Reynell was passionate about horses and had grown up reading books about the Britain’s military exploits. He was eager to serve in the military, and his father even had to stop him enlisting while underage for service in South Africa.

In July 1908 Reynell was commissioned second lieutenant in the 16th Light Horse. He married May Marion Byard on 11 May 1910, and over the next two years the couple gave birth to a daughter, Lydia, and a son, Richard.

By November 1912 Reynell was a major serving with the 22nd Light Horse. His commitments to the winery prevented him from enlisting immediately following the outbreak of the First World War, but on 16 December 1914 he was commissioned with the rank of major and made second in charge of the newly formed 9th Light Horse Regiment. He embarked for Egypt aboard the transport ship Karroo the following February.

After several months of training the 9th Light Horse was sent to Gallipoli, arriving on 21 May. Already regarded as a fine soldier and leader, Reynell further cemented his reputation with his scouting forays into no man’s land. His courage was also celebrated, and on 30 June he led a counter-attack to oust Turkish troops who had broken into the 9th Light Horse’s front-line positions.

When Lieutenant Colonel Albert Miell died at The Nek on 7 August Reynell was immediately promoted to lieutenant colonel and given command of the 9th Light Horse Regiment. It remained at Walker’s Ridge until 27 August, when the unit was ordered to positions near Hill 60. Reynell and his men were ordered to attack and capture the Turkish trenches on Hill 60.

In the early hours of 28 August the 9th Light Horse launched its attack, with Reynell leading from the front, and charged across no man’s land. They had reached the parapet of the Turkish trenches when Reynell was shot and instantly killed. He was 32 years old.

More than half of the 9th Light Horse became casualties that night. Reynell was recovered and buried nearby with his fellow fallen officers where the Hill 60 Cemetery stands today. Later his body could not be positively identified, and instead, his name is listed on a headstone in the cemetery as “believed to be buried in this cemetery”.

That September Reynell was posthumously Mentioned in Despatches by Sir Ian Hamilton.

The Second World War brought further tragedy to Reynell’s family. His son, Richard, studied at Oxford University in 1929 and joined the Royal Air Force as a pilot in 1931. He was shot down and killed, aged 28, on 7 September 1940 during a dogfight over south London. He left behind a wife and baby son.

Lieutenant Colonel Reynell’s name is listed on the Roll of Honour to my right, along with more than 60,000 others from the First World War. His photograph is displayed to 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 Lieutenant Colonel Carew Reynell, and all Australians who have given their lives in service of our nation.

Michael Kelly
Historian, Military History Section