The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of Lieutenant Thomas George Taylor, 41st 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 Chris Widenbar, the story for this day was on Lieutenant Thomas George Taylor, 41st Battalion, AIF, First World War.

Lieutenant Thomas George Taylor, 41st Battalion, AIF
DOW 5 July 1917

Today we remember and pay tribute to Lieutenant Thomas George Taylor.

Thomas Taylor was born in 1877 in Bungendore, New South Wales, the eldest son of Owen and Harriett Taylor. Little is known about his early life, other than that he had moved to southern Africa by the end of the 1890s.

In October 1899, war broke out between the two Boer republics and the British Empire. Within a week of war being declared, Taylor had joined a local irregular British unit known as Brabant’s Horse. He served with this unit for almost a year, fighting Boer forces in the north-eastern Cape Colony. In September his time with the unit ended, and it appears that Taylor went back to Australia for a brief period.

He soon chose to return to South Africa, this time with the 2nd New South Wales Mounted Rifles. In this unit he was promoted to the rank of sergeant. For his good work with the unit, he was presented with a pipe from Queen Alexandra, the wife of the new British king, Edward the Seventh. Taylor also served with the 3rd New South Wales Imperial Bushmen, in which unit he was commissioned as a lieutenant.

At the outbreak of the First World War, Taylor was living with his wife, Emma Jane, in Indooroopilly, Queensland, and working on a farm.

In December 1915, Taylor enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in Brisbane. Because of his record of earlier service, he joined at the rank of sergeant. He trained in Australia for six months before sailing for England in May 1916 on the transport ship Demosthenes. His training continued in England, and he was commissioned as a second lieutenant. In November he sailed to France, where he completed officer training at the Anzac and Divisional Schools, and was promoted to the rank of lieutenant.

In April 1917, Taylor joined his unit, the 41st Battalion, in the field in France. He saw action at the battle of Messines in early June 1917. During this battle, British, Canadian and Australian miners detonated an enormous amount of explosives underneath the German positions, and over-ran the survivors. During his time at the front, Taylor also participated in trench raids, and became a well-liked officer to the men of the 41st Battalion.

At the beginning of July, Taylor was in the support lines near the town of Warneton on the French–Belgian border when he was struck by shrapnel in his legs and badly wounded. He was evacuated to the Second Australian Casualty Clearing Station to be treated, but he died of his wounds on 5 July 1917. He was 40 years old.

Thomas Taylor is buried at Trois Arbres Cemetery in northern France, with more than 1,700 Commonwealth soldiers from the First World War. His grieving widow had the following epitaph inscribed on his headstone: “In loving memory of my dear husband. A duty nobly done.”

Lieutenant Thomas George Taylor 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 photograph is displayed today beside the Pool of Reflection.

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