The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of Major Eric Winfield Connelly, 3rd Australian Division, 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 Craig Berelle, the story for this day was on Major Eric Winfield Connelly, 3rd Australian Division, AIF, First World War.

Major Eric Winfield Connelly, 3rd Australian Division, AIF
DOW 9 September 1918

Today we remember and pay tribute to Major Eric Winfield Connelly.

Eric Connelly was born on 18 September 1888 to Jefferson and Frances Connelly of Bendigo, Victoria. His father was a prominent lawyer in Bendigo who was the city’s first locally-born mayor, and its youngest. Eric was the youngest of three children, with an older brother and sister. His father died unexpectedly in 1892, when Eric was four years old.

Eric and his older brother Clive followed closely in their father’s footsteps – both in their choice of law as a profession, and in their association with the military. Eric was educated at Carlton College in Melbourne, and on the outbreak of war in 1914 was practising as a barrister at Selbourne Chambers in Melbourne. Eric was keenly interested in public and political matters, and was one of the active members of the Speakers’ Association attached to the Liberal Party in Melbourne. He was instrumental in instituting the Young Liberals League in Bendigo.

Eric and his brother Clive enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force shortly after the outbreak of war in 1914. Their previous military experience with Senior Cadets and the Citizens’ Militia saw them receive commissions, Eric as a second lieutenant with the 7th Battalion and Clive as a captain with the 14th Battalion.

The 7th Battalion landed on Gallipoli as part of the second wave on 25 April 1915. At some point during the day, Second Lieutenant Connelly was struck in the elbow by a bullet. He was evacuated to hospital in England, but took a long time to recover, and by November he had been sent home to Australia for an extended period of convalescence. Captain Clive Connelly was killed in action during the August Offensive.

Eric Connelly remained on light duties in Australia for the first half of 1916. During this time he married Dorothy McLellan, but only had a short time with her before leaving for the war again in May. By this time he had been promoted to captain, and was posted to the 10th Infantry Brigade Headquarters staff.

Connelly remained in England until the end of 1916, going to France in November to join the 10th Brigade in the field. At the same time he was promoted to Brigade Major. He was an able and courageous staff officer. At Messines in June 1917, he was gassed and rendered unconscious for eight hours. When he woke up, instead of seeking aid, he went forward to battalion headquarters and organised them into a further attack before returning through the “most intense shellfire in a state of complete exhaustion”. For his “conspicuous ability in staff work, and untiring energy and skill under tiring circumstances” he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order. Not long after he was mentioned in despatches for “distinguished and gallant services and devotion to duty in the Field” that year.

In February 1918, Major Connelly was transferred to the staff of the 3rd Australian Division. Not long after this, a decision was made for his wife Dorothy to join him in Europe. She travelled via Canada with another officer’s wife, the two intending to stay in England in order to be nearer to their husbands.

At 4.30 on the morning of the 8th of September 1918, while Major Connelly was asleep in a tent a few metres from 3rd Division headquarters near Péronne, a German aircraft dropped a bomb nearby. Connelly was struck by shell fragments in the right thigh and left knee. He was quickly taken to a casualty clearing station at Proyart , where an operation was performed to amputate his leg. Although he recovered well from the operation, gas gangrene set in almost at once, and he died of wounds at around 7 pm on 9 September 1918. Dorothy Connelly arrived in Vancouver on her way to England a few days later.

Major Eric Connelly was buried in Heath Cemetery in Harbonnières, where he lies today under the inscription, “To conquer is to live enough”. He was 29 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 Major Eric Winfield Connelly, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Meleah Hampton
Historian, Military History Section