The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (1152) Second Lieutenant Francis Henry Waddingham, 7th Machine Gun Company, 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 Craig Berelle, the story for this day was on (1152) Second Lieutenant Francis Henry Waddingham, 7th Machine Gun Company, AIF, First World War.

1152 Second Lieutenant Francis Henry Waddingham, 7th Machine Gun Company, AIF
DOW 10 March 1917
Story delivered 15 July 2018

Today we remember and pay tribute to Second Lieutenant Francis Henry Waddingham.

Francis Waddingham, known as “Frank” to his family and friends, was born on 27 October 1894 in Bunbury, Western Australia, to William and Ellen Waddingham.

The family moved to Balingup when Frank was still quite young. Here he attended Balingup State School, after which he went to work as a farmer on his parents’ property, called “Crondell”.

He was known as a fine, well-mannered lad with a cheerful disposition. He was an excellent sportsman and excelled at running, cricket, football and horse riding. He also took part in shooting competitions, which were always strongly contested.

In 1913, his older sister Rose was married. With his father suffering crippling ill health, Waddingham, now 18, walked his sister down the aisle. A newspaper account of the wedding noted how well he had equipped himself for such a momentous occasion in his sister’s life.

As a young adult, he joined his local militia unit, the 25th Light Horse. By the time the First World War began, he was serving in the unit’s machine-gun section.

He enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force with his parents’ permission at Helena Vale on 7 May 1915. He joined the 28th Battalion, which had been raised the previous month at Blackboy Camp.

Waddingham embarked with his battalion from Fremantle on the 9th of June 1915 aboard the transport ship Ascanius, bound for Egypt. After two months in Egypt, the 28th Battalion was sent to Gallipoli, arriving at Anzac in early September. Later that month, while the battalion occupied positions at the Apex, Waddingham was promoted to lance corporal. When the battalion was withdrawn in December, Waddingham had been promoted to sergeant.

As the AIF returned to Egypt in late 1915 and early 1916, it underwent a period of expansion and reorganisation. In early March, Waddingham was transferred to the 7th Brigade’s Machine Gun Company.

The 7th MGC sailed to France in late March and, after a brief introduction to the Western Front in the Nursery Sector near the town Armentieres, saw its first major action at Pozieres in July. The company was employed in an indirect fire support role throughout August before moving into reserve in Belgium in September. The 7th MGC was next employed in the quiet Ypres sector in October, before the unit moved south to the Somme at the end of the month.

Towards the end of November, Waddingham was promoted to company sergeant major, and in mid-December he was commissioned with the rank of second lieutenant.

Following the bitter winter of 1916 and 1917, the German army withdrew to its prepared positions on the Hindenburg Line. The Australians were involved in pursuit operations to maintain pressure as the Germans withdrew.

At the beginning of March, the 7th MGC was in positions near Le Sars, providing fire support to the 7th Brigade. According to the war diary, during the night of the 9th of March, the machine-guns were providing indirect fire support on selected targets. During this action, Waddingham received a wound over his right eye.

He was taken to the 3rd Casualty Clearing Station, but died of his wounds the following day. He was laid to rest in the Dernancourt Communal Cemetery Extension. He was 22 years old.

News of his death hit his close-knit family particularly hard. His younger brother Ern later recalled, “We lost two people on the day we were told Frank was gone. We lost our mother… she ‘died’ too. She was never the same.”

A year after his death, his family penned the following verse:

By the gateway, in the evening,
as we watch the waving grain
That whispers a soft and low sweet lullaby
We think of you - we dream of you, Frank,
You're with us all again

We hear you murmur, "Mother do not cry"

But our visions quickly glide,
as we recall that eventide
twelve months ago, across the ocean blue
That you fought your fight so well
And like a hero fell
To save the ones to whom you'd been so true.

Lord have mercy on his soul.

Waddingham’s name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my right, among almost 62,000 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 Second Lieutenant Francis Henry Waddingham, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Michael Kelly
Historian, Military History Section