The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (853) Trooper Robert Leslie Beard, 10th Australian Light Horse, AIF Regiment, 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 , the story for this day was on (853) Trooper Robert Leslie Beard, 10th Australian Light Horse, AIF Regiment, FIrst World War.

853 Trooper Robert Leslie Beard, 10th Australian Light Horse, AIF Regiment
Died of wounds 14 June 1915

Today we remember and pay tribute to Trooper Robert Leslie Beard.

Known to friend as “Les”, Robert Beard was born in the Melbourne suburb of Footscray on the 6th of April 1891, the son of Henry and Caroline Beard.

Robert’s mother died when he was eight years old, and the family moved to the shire of Wagin, south-east of Perth, where Robert’s father worked as a farmer. Robert attended Fremantle Boys’ School, before going on to work as a station hand.

Robert was a few months shy of his 24th birthday when he enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in January 1915.

His brothers Ernest and Hubert, who were working in Mildura in Victoria, had enlisted in October and November 1914, joining the Light Horse.

Robert was allotted to the reinforcements to the 10th Australian Light Horse in mid-February, and on 19 April 1915, left Australia aboard the troopship Argyllshire. Joining his unit in late May, he was posted to B Squadron. Less than a fortnight later, on 8 June, he received a gunshot wound to his left leg at Quinn’s Post at Gallipoli. He was evacuated from the peninsula and admitted to hospital in Alexandria, suffering from damage to a main artery. His wound proved mortal, and he died on 14 June 1915.

He was buried the following day at Chatby Military and War Memorial Cemetery in Alexandria. He was 24 years old.

Shortly after his death, three of Robert’s brothers – all of whom were at the front – placed a notice of remembrance in the local paper. While Frank, Ernest, and Hubert would return home, Robert’s absence would be felt by the family in the years to come.

Robert Beard’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 Robert Leslie Beard, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Duncan Beard
Editor, Military History Section