The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (554) Trooper Carl Adelt, 1st 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 Gerard Pratt, the story for this day was on (554) Trooper Carl Adelt, 1st Light Horse Regiment, AIF, First World War.

554 Trooper Carl Adelt, 1st Light Horse Regiment, AIF
DOW 16 May 1915

Today we remember and pay tribute to Trooper Carl Adelt.
Carl Adelt was born in 1892 in Caulfield, Melbourne, the third of four children, three boys and a girl, born to Louis and Nellie Adelt. Adelt’s father was a commercial salesman, and when Carl was young the family moved from Melbourne to the northern suburbs of Sydney. Adelt attended Fort Street High School and commercial college, and later worked as a commercial traveller. He was a keen member of a local cadets unit and served in a local garrison artillery unit for three years. He was also an excellent swimmer and a member of the Manly Lifesaving Club.

Adelt enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in September 1914, only weeks after the beginning of the war. All three of the Adelt brothers served in the First World War. Louis served in the Australian engineers on the Western Front, and Rudolph served in a light horse regiment in the campaigns in Palestine and Egypt.

Soon after enlisting, Carl Adelt began training with the newly formed 1st Australian Light Horse Regiment in Sydney. In this unit he was a regular trooper, but also served as trumpeter. In this role he assisted by playing reveille and other calls used to rouse troops.

In late October 1914, Adelt and the 1st Light Horse Regiment travelled to Sydney Harbour to embark on the transport ship Star of Victoria. As they boarded the ship a band played some popular marching songs, and in a letter home to his mother Adelt wrote: “I guess it could be heard all over the harbour”. He also noted that not long after boarding, many of the men began to feel the effects of sea sickness, and that many of them had never seen the ocean before.

Adelt sailed aboard the Star of Victoria to Albany, Western Australia, then to Colombo, in modern day Sri Lanka, and eventually to Egypt, where the Australians camped and trained before landing at Gallipoli.

Adelt noted in his letter home that he was camped near the great pyramids. One day after having climbed them, he visited an Australian camp, where he ran into some old mates from the Manly Life Saving Club.

Adelt and the 1st Light Horse Brigade did not take part in the initial April landings on Gallipoli, but instead landed on the peninsula on 12 May.

Adelt entered the trenches on Gallipoli for the first time on 13 May 1915. The war diary for his unit records that on that day they came under heavy Turkish fire, particularly from machine-guns. On the 15th, he assisted in an attack on enemy lines near an area called Quinn’s Post. It is likely that during this attack that he was shot in the chin and evacuated to the hospital ship Gascon.
On 16 May 1916, while aboard Gascon as it sailed from Gallipoli to Alexandria, Egypt, Adelt died of his wounds. He was 22 years old.

He was buried at sea, and his name is now listed on the Lone Pine Memorial on Gallipoli, which records the names of over 4,900 soldiers of the First World War who were buried at sea or have no known grave.

Adelt’s death was deeply felt by his grieving family. His father stated, “We must feel proud that he died fighting for us – Australia, England and the dear old flag – and in the cause of right and freedom.”

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

David Sutton
Historian, Military History Section