The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (2818) Private Matthew Ewart, 5th 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 Gerard Pratt, the story for this day was on (2818) Private Matthew Ewart, 5th Battalion, AIF, First World War.

2818 Private Matthew Ewart, 5th Battalion, AIF
KIA 25 July 1916
No photograph in collection

Story delivered 23 August 2016

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private Matthew Ewart.

Matthew Ewart was the youngest son of Matthew and Elizabeth Ewart of the Goulburn Valley in Victoria. He was born in Dargalong in 1888 and was one of 11 children. His father had migrated from Scotland in the 1850s and was a well-known farmer and breeder of Clydesdale horses. He died in 1913.

Young Matthew was a keen sportsman, was known as “a familiar figure at all district sports gatherings”, and was particularly keen on football. He had several good coursing dogs, and was a founder and principle official of the Wahring Coursing Club. If there was any scheme for the entertainment or advancement of his local district, Matthew Ewart would almost certainly be involved.

Ewart wanted to enlist in the Australian Imperial Force as soon as war broke out in 1914, but spent some months putting his farming affairs in order before doing so. He was accepted for active service in July 1915 and began his infantry training in Australia. In September he left Melbourne on board the troopship Star of Victoria with the 5th Battalion. After further training in Egypt and England, he arrived in France to fight on the Western Front.

The first major action of the 5th Battalion came in late July 1916 near the French village of Pozières. The village had been captured by other battalions of the 1st Australian Division, but the new positions were in danger from strong German trenches to the north-east. In the early hours of the morning on 25 July the 5th Battalion captured objectives in a German-held trench known as OG1. The battalion suffered heavy casualties in the process, including nearly 50 confirmed dead, 250 wounded, and 160 missing.

One of those reported missing at the end of the battle was Private Matthew Ewart. An investigation quickly revealed that he had been killed during the battle, and his identity discs recovered from his body as it lay in no man’s land. His body was never retrieved, and was likely destroyed in subsequent artillery fire.

In Australia the news of Matthew Ewart’s death was passed on to his widowed mother. The news reportedly “cast quite a gloom of sadness over the whole district, in which [the] deceased was so well and favourably known”. He was 28 years old.

His name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my right, among more than 60,000 Australians who died during 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 Matthew Ewart, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Dr Meleah Hampton
Historian, Military History Section