The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (1004) Private Fred Chadwick, 31st 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 Sharon Bown, the story for this day was on (1004) Private Fred Chadwick, 31st Battalion, AIF, First World War.

1004 Private Fred Chadwick, 31st Battalion, AIF
KIA 21 July 1916
Story delivered 21 July 2018

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private Fred Chadwick.

Fred Chadwick was born in 1891 and was the son of Charles and Alice Ann Chadwick of the Melbourne suburb of West Brunswick. Educated at Brunswick State School, Fred was actively involved in the local Naval Cadets under the Universal Training Scheme that was in place at the time. He later worked as a pottery hand, most likely at the Hoffman Patent Steam Brick and Tile Company in Brunswick, and paraded part-time with the Army Service Corps in the years before the war.

Fred successfully enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in July 1915. He had tried to enlist previously, but was rejected on account of bad teeth. After the strict recruiting standards for enlistment had relaxed following the need for volunteers to fill reinforcement quotas for Gallipoli, he was accepted. After several months training at the military camp at Broadmeadows, he sailed for Egypt as an original member of the 31st Battalion in November 1915. Not long after arriving in Egypt, Fred learned that his father, Charles, had passed away.

Following the end of the Gallipoli campaign, the 31st Battalion trained in Egypt in preparation for the AIF’s departure for the Western Front. Sailing for France in June 1916, the 31st Battalion entered the line in the relatively quiet “nursery sector” near the town of Armentieres on the Franco-Belgian border where other Australian divisions had learned the rigours and routine of trench fighting before moving on to more active sectors. Forming part of the Australian 5th Division, the 31st Battalion spent less than two weeks in this relatively quiet area before it was committed to its first major attack on the Western Front.

On the night of 19 July 1916, troops of the Australian 5th Division made a costly and unsuccessful assault on the German positions near the village of Fromelles. Men of the 31st Battalion succeeded in crossing no man’s land under withering machine-gun fire and penetrated deep into German lines where they were subjected to fierce counter-attacks that inflicted a heavy toll. Some were successful in returning to Australian lines, but many were killed or wounded in the fighting, or captured by German troops.

The 5th Division suffered over 5,500 casualties in the fighting at Fromelles. Among them was Fred Chadwick, who was listed as having been killed on 21 July 1916. Aged 25 at the time of his death, his remains were buried at Rue-Petillon Military Cemetery at nearby Fleurbaix where he rests today. A small epitaph penned by his grieving mother appears on his headstone:
My Dear Fred
Who Gave His Life
That We Might Live.

His 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.

His is but one of the many stories of service and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Private Fred Chadwick, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Aaron Pegram
Historian, Military History Section