The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (6294) Private Tom Jones, 3rd Australian Infantry Battalion, 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 Chris Widenbar, the story for this day was on (6294) Private Tom Jones, 3rd Australian Infantry Battalion, First World War.

6294 Private Tom Jones, 3rd Australian Infantry Battalion
KIA 5 May 1917
Story delivered 3 May 2018

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private Tom Jones.

Tom Jones was born in 1893 on Euglo Station, near Condoblin, New South Wales, to William and Louisa Jones.

He lived with his family on the station, was educated privately there, and worked as a stationhand before enlisting in the Australian Imperial Force at Cootamundra on the 18th of March 1916.

Before Jones left for active service overseas, a social evening was held in his honour at the nearby town of Bena. Despite a heavy downpour, a large group attended, and Jones was presented with a wristwatch and other gifts, and speeches were made lauding his decision to enlist. After the formalities, there was dancing until daylight.

On 26 September 1916 Private Jones left Sydney aboard the troopship Euripides with reinforcements to the 3rd Battalion. During the journey, he was changed with disobedience of orders and was awarded an extra day of fatigue work. This seems to have been an isolated incident, and no other disciplinary infractions were recorded by the time he arrived in England and joined the 1st Training Battalion.

After a period of training in England, Private Jones arrived in France in April 1917. At the time many Australian battalions had been involved in the fighting around the French village of Bullecourt. Less than two weeks after joining his battalion on the Western Front, Private Jones’s battalion was called into action.

In early May 1917 the 3rd Battalion was in or near the front line not far from Bullecourt. After helping to fend off a number of enemy counter-attacks on the 4th of May, the battalion spent the following day under a heavy German bombardment and under constant threat from long-range sniping. That evening the Germans tried to attack again, but their operation was broken up by the Australian artillery, which unfortunately dropped a few shells short into their own infantry.

At some point in this confusion, Private Tom Jones was killed in action. No record remains of the manner of his death, and his body was not recovered from the battlefield. Today he is commemorated on the Australian National Memorial at Villers-Bretonneux along with over 10,000 Australians killed in France who have no known grave.

He was 24 years old.

His name is also listed on the Roll of Honour on my right, among some 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 Private Tom Jones, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Duncan Beard
Editor, Military History Section