The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (3051) Trooper Victor Rule, 3rd Light Horse Regiment, 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 Troy Clayton, the story for this day was on (3051) Trooper Victor Rule, 3rd Light Horse Regiment, AIF, First World War.

3051 Trooper Victor Rule, 3rd Light Horse Regiment, AIF
DOD 13 October 1918
Story delivered 13 October 2018

Today we remember and pay tribute to Trooper Victor Franci Rule.

Victor Rule was born in 1897, the son of George and Sarah Rule of the Adelaide suburb of Fullarton. After attending school in the local area, Rule worked as a bricklayer and master builder with his father. While at school he took part in senior cadets, in accord with the Universal Military Training Scheme operating at the time. He was later actively involved in the Citizens Military Forces, parading part-time with the No. 11 Field Company Engineers. Those who knew Rule held him in high esteem and he was remembered for his cheery disposition.

Victor was one of four Rule brothers to serve in the First World War. He enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in June 1916, and after a period of training in Adelaide, embarked for Egypt with a reinforcement group for the 3rd Light Horse Regiment in January 1917. On arrival, he went into camp near Moascar and the Suez Canal, where he trained as a signaller –a trade he most likely already knew something about from his time with the Citizens Military Forces.

In late June, Rule joined the 3rd Light Horse Regiment in camp at Tel-el-Marakeb on the Palestinian coastline. At this time, the war in the Middle East had settled into a protracted stalemate between British and Ottoman forces. At the end of July, after taking part in bitter fighting at Gaza, the Australian Mounted Division surfed, played sports, sun-bathed and swam with their horses every day.
Less than two weeks after joining the regiment in rest, Rule sprained his ankle, and had to be evacuated to Abbassia.

Rule returned to the 3rd Light Horse regiment in August 1917. With the capture of Gaza, Ottoman positions in southern Palestine collapsed, and the Anzac Mounted Division ultimately moved on to Jaffa, from where it crossed the Jordan River. The division was involved in raids at Amman in February, and at Es Salt in April and May, and repulsed Ottoman attacks in July 1918. Rule participated in the offensive that was subsequently launched along the Mediterranean coast in September 1918, when the Anzac Mounted Division fought actions at Megiddo and Nablus.

After weeks of heavy fighting, the 3rd Light Horse Regiment was in camp at Ziza near Amman on 5 October 1918 when Rule was admitted sick to hospital. His condition worsened over the following days, and he was evacuated to the 34th Clearing Hospital at Jerusalem, where he succumbed to a malignant case of malaria eight days later.

Aged 21 at the time of his death, Victor Rule was buried in the Jerusalem War Cemetery. In the following weeks, his grieving family inserted the following epitaph in the local newspaper: “So dearly loved. His duty nobly done”.

Victor Rule’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 Trooper Victor Francis Rule, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.


Aaron Pegram
Historian, Military History Section