The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (1051) Corporal Joseph John Bald, 12th 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 Charis May, the story for this day was on (1051) Corporal Joseph John Bald, 12th Battalion, AIF, First World War.

1051 Corporal Joseph John Bald, 12th Battalion, AIF
KIA 19 August 1916
Photograph: P07530.001

Story delivered 10 April 2017

Today we remember and pay tribute to Corporal Joseph Bald.

Known to family and friends as “Joe”, Joseph John Bald was born on 10 April 1896 to John and Ellen Bald of Ringarooma, Tasmania. He was named for an older brother, also Joseph John Bald, who had died at the age of seven the year before Joe was born. There were 11 children in the family and Joe grew up in the Scottsdale district, where his father spent most of his life working the land. Joseph Bald went on to work as a painter.

Bald enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force shortly after the outbreak of war in 1914. He was posted to the 12th Battalion, which participated in the landing at Anzac Cove in the early hours of 25 April 1915. The 12th Battalion was heavily involved in establishing and defending the front line of the Anzac position in the early days of the campaign.

Other than a charge for using obscene language to a non-commissioned officer, Private Bald seems to have had an uneventful time on Gallipoli. He remained there until the evacuation, arriving back in Alexandria in early January 1916. After recovering from a bout of the mumps, Bald rejoined his battalion and was promoted to lance corporal just before being transported to France to take part in the fighting on the Western Front.

In July 1916 the 12th Battalion participated in an operation to capture the French village of Pozières. The operation was successful, but the 12th Battalion suffered heavy casualties. Bald was promoted to temporary corporal following the battle to cover for those lost. A few weeks later the 12th Battalion was again called on to enter the front line near Pozières. Corporal Joe Bald never left.

Lieutenant Keith Field later wrote to Bald’s parents to tell them what had happened:

It was while he was taking a small party of men out of the trenches on the night we were being relieved that he was killed – either from a bullet or a bomb. Death was, as far as I can gather, instantaneous.

He added:

For a long time I was in the same platoon as he was, and so knew him rather well. He was one of the most popular lads in the company, and general regret was expressed when it became known that he had been killed in action … your loss is great but you will find great comfort in the fact that your son has done his “little bit” and has laid down his life for the Empire.

Corporal Joe Bald’s body was either never recovered, or his battlefield grave was lost in further fighting. Today he is commemorated on the memorial to the missing at Villers-Bretonneux. He was 20 years old.

His name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my right, among more than 60,000 Australians who died while serving in 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 Corporal Joseph John Bald, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Meleah Hampton
Historian, Military History Unit