The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (5057) Lance Corporal Roy Bathurst Mason, 13th 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 Tristan Rallings, the story for this day was on (5057) Lance Corporal Roy Bathurst Mason, 13th Battalion, AIF, First World War.

5057 Lance Corporal Roy Bathurst Mason, 13th Battalion, AIF
KIA 11 April 1917

Today we remember and pay tribute to Lance Corporal Roy Bathurst Mason.

Roy Mason was born on 9 February 1895, to Thomas and Jane Mason of New South Wales. His father had come to Australia as an infant, and spent his life living in White Rock, O’Connell and Wimbledon. A few years before Roy was born the family were living in a tent at White Rock, but their fortunes improved and they would eventually move to the property “Butterlea” near Wimbledon. Roy was educated at the Bloom Hill State School. He would go on to work as a farmer in the district, occasionally taking on contracts to remove rabbits from nearby properties.
Roy Mason enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in October 1915. His older brother Sid had enlisted several months earlier, and was already on his way to the front with reinforcements to the light horse.

Roy underwent a period of training in Australia before leaving for active service in June 1916 with reinforcements to the 17th Battalion. His voyage overseas was not without incident, as he disobeyed a direct order while in Cape Town, South Africa, and was awarded three days field punishment on board the troopship.

Private Roy Mason was first sent to England. After arriving, he sent a cable home to his parents to say that he had arrived safely, and was in good health. His brother, Sid, was also in England at the same time, although it is unclear whether the brothers were able to meet.

Roy continued training on Salisbury Plain until October 1916, a year after he enlisted, when he was sent to France to fight on the battlefields of the Western Front with the 13th Battalion, which had been badly depleted during the fighting at Mouquet Farm earlier in the year.

Mason arrived in France at the beginning of what would become the coldest winter recorded in northern France in decades. His battalion spent much of the winter rotating in and out of the front line, conducting small scale raids against German defences and maintaining a defensive front. In late February 1917, the Australians discovered that the enemy positions opposite them were empty, and over the following days advanced to find the Germans had withdrawn to a strongly defended position that would be known as the Hindenburg Line. Roy had proven himself an able soldier over the winter, and was promoted to lance corporal as the 13th Battalion took part in the follow up to the Hindenburg Line.

On 11 April 1917, Australian battalions took part in an attack on the Hindenburg Line near the French village of Bullecourt. At 4.45am two companies of the 13th Battalion moved out, followed later by the remaining two. As soon as they left the shelter of the railway cutting, the companies came under German shell-fire. The 16th Battalion, in front of the 13th, found swathes of uncut barbed wire in their way, and the 13th Battalion came to their assistance, before the battalions moved forward to take the first and second objectives. Although the men made valiant attempts to maintain their new positions, heavy German bombing attacks soon forced them out. The first attack on the Hindenburg Line was a failure.

During vicious fighting, Lance Corporal Roy Bathurst Mason was killed. Little is known of the manner of his death, and rumours were heard that he had been taken prisoner of war. However, it was soon determined that these were incorrect, and a court of inquiry determined that he had been killed in action during the first battle of Bullecourt.

Private Roy Mason’s body was never recovered, and today he is commemorated on the Australian National Memorial at Villers Bretonneux. He was 22 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 Lance Corporal Roy Bathurst Mason, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Meleah Hampton
Historian, Military History Section