The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (1941) Private Emmet O’Leary, 22nd 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 Dennis Stockman, the story for this day was on (1941) Private Emmet O’Leary, 22nd Battalion, AIF, First World War.

1941 Private Emmet O’Leary, 22nd Battalion, AIF
KIA 9 March 1918
No photograph in collection

Story delivered 17 September 2016

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private Emmet O’Leary.

Emmet O’Leary was born Humphrey Emmet O’Leary on 10 May 1886 in Georgetown, South Australia. When he was five or six years old his family moved north to Petersburg. His father served as the head teacher at the Petersburg State School for nine years before moving his family to Crystal Brook, taking the position of head teacher at the government school there. Two years later, when Emmet was about 16 years old, his father died suddenly after going out in the cold to get the results of the state election.

Emmet O’Leary went on to work as a clerk, and enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in November 1914, a few weeks after the outbreak of war. He was not posted to the 22nd Battalion until June 1915, and left Australia that August. He was sent first to Egypt and then to the Gallipoli peninsula. He was there only a few weeks before being evacuated in December with a carcinoma on his lip. After having it removed, he went on to join his battalion in France on the battlefields of the Western Front.

From his earliest experiences in the front line on the Western Front, Private O’Leary was badly affected by shell shock and spent considerable amount of time in hospitals in France and England. He held various roles in camps in England and did not return to the battlefield until December 1917.

O’Leary joined the 22nd Battalion in Belgium, and on 9 March 1918 was serving in the front line. It had been a quiet day in the front line, but during the night artillery activity from both sides increased. One officer and three Other Ranks from the 22nd Battalion were killed in action during the day. One of them was Private Emmet O’Leary. Little is known of the manner of his death, although it was probably as a result of artillery fire. He was buried in the Berks Cemetery Extension in Belgium, aged 31.

O’Leary’s death came less than a month after his younger brother Jack had been killed in action near Fleurbaix at the age of 25.

Private Emmet O’Leary’s 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 Emmet O’Leary, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Dr Meleah Hampton
Historian, Military History Section