The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (2365) Private James Cunningham, 9th 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 Troy Clayton, the story for this day was on (2365) Private James Cunningham, 9th Battalion, AIF, First World War.

2365 Private James Cunningham, 9th Battalion, AIF
KIA 23 July 1916

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private James Cunningham.

James Cunningham, known as “Jimmie”, was born in Liverpool, England, on 13 August 1896, the son of Patrick and Rose Cunningham. He was baptised three days later into the Catholic faith. His father worked as a dock labourer and his mother was a shopkeeper. In his early teens, James worked as an errand boy for a fish dealer. It is believed that he ran away from home around the age of 16 and stowed away on board a ship to Australia. He went on to work for a Mr Alex Gibson as a carter in Brisbane, becoming friends with his family.

James Cunningham enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in May 1915. He underwent a period of training in Australia before leaving for active service overseas with reinforcements to the 9th Battalion. He first went to Egypt, and then to Mudros before it was evident that the evacuation from Gallipoli would go ahead. It is not entirely clear from his service record, but it seems unlikely that he made it to the peninsula itself before returning to Egypt.

The 9th Battalion arrived on the Western Front after several months training in the desert. First entering the front line in a quiet sector, the battalion conducted some raids to acclimatise to conditions in the European war. On the night of 1 June, Cunningham went with a raiding party into no man’s land. The enemy began bombing, but Cunningham “pushed forward boldly and was instrumental in driving many of the enemy into dugouts where they were bombed”.

Less than a month later the 9th Battalion took part in a successful attack on the French village of Pozieres. While the village was captured, the 9th Battalion came under heavy fire from the north-east, and struggled to advance alongside its neighbouring battalions. Private Cunningham and another man went forward to bomb a German strong-post after the main part of the attack was over. He and another man were struck by a German bomb and killed outright.

Private James Cunningham and his companion, Private Herbert Dickson, were buried in a trench near where they fell. Their graves were lost in subsequent fighting, and today they are commemorated on the memorial to the missing at Villers-Bretonneux.

In Brisbane, the Gray family mourned their friend with a notice in the local newspaper. It read:
His country called, and honour bade him go
To battle ‘gainst a grim and deadly foe;
He helped to bring Australia into fame,
To build for her a never-dying name.
Foremost was he in the thickest strife;
For king and country laid he down his life.

A little over a week after his death, Private James Cunningham was awarded the Military Medal for his courage and gallantry during the raid in June. He was 19 years old.

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.

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

Meleah Hampton
Historian, Military History Section