The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (4140) Private Percy Aylmer Beauchamp, 50th 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 , the story for this day was on (4140) Private Percy Aylmer Beauchamp, 50th Battalion, AIF, First World War.

4140 Private Percy Aylmer Beauchamp, 50th Battalion, AIF
KIA 2 April 1917

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private Percy Aylmer Beauchamp.

Percy Beauchamp was born on 25 October 1894, the youngest son of Lindsay and Albertina Beauchamp of Adelaide, South Australia. He was educated at the local school in Rose Park, and went on to work as a French polisher. He was a Sunday School teacher and member of the choir at St. Bartholomew’s Church in Norwood, and was reportedly “well-liked by his comrades”. Beauchamp served as a naval cadet in the years before the war, and only missed one drill during six years’ service.

On the outbreak of war in August 1914, Beauchamp was called on as a naval cadet to undertake sentry duty in and around the docks at Port Adelaide. He left to enlist in the Australian Imperial Force in early April 1915, and when news of the Gallipoli landings came through he was already in military camp, undertaking training in preparation to go to war himself.

Several months elapsed before Beauchamp departed from Australia. A friend from the 50th Battalion later wrote that Percy had gone to Sydney for training with the Naval Bridging Training, and was part of a group known as “the Mysterious 33”. Nothing is known of Beauchamp’s experience during these months, nor what “the Mysterious 33” might refer to.

Private Percy Beauchamp left Australia with reinforcements to the 10th Battalion on 11 January 1916 on board the troopship Borda. He was first sent to Egypt, where the AIF was undergoing a period of expansion and reorganisation following the evacuation from Gallipoli. As part of this process he was transferred to the 50th Battalion. He continued training with the 50th for a number of weeks before leaving for service on the Western Front in June 1916.

The 50th Battalion’s first major operation on the Western Front took place on 12 August 1916, when it attacked German trenches near Mouquet Farm, north of the French village of Pozieres. It would make another attack two days later, both of which produced minimal success for a high number of casualties. The battalion spent nearly a week under extremely heavy shell-fire, and suffered many casualties.

Private Beauchamp came through this first experience of trench battles unscathed, but a few weeks later burnt his foot, probably while cooking in the field. His injuries were bad enough that he was sent to hospital in England to recover, and went on to spend the bitterly cold winter of 1916 to 1917 in training camps on Salisbury Plain.

Percy Beauchamp returned to France in late March 1917, rejoining his battalion on 1 April. Around this time the German Army was withdrawing to a heavily fortified series of trenches that would become known as the Hindenburg Line. The 50th Battalion was one of a number of battalions to follow up this withdrawal, looking for a point to attack the enemy.

On 2 April 1917, the day after Beauchamp rejoined the 50th Battalion, the battalion took part in an operation to capture an outpost to the Hindenburg Line – the French village of Noreuil. The 50th advanced on the village from the south, encountering heavy enemy machine-gun fire as they went. The village was captured, but at a heavy cost. The 50th Battalion suffered more than 350 casualties – more than a third of its strength – during the attack.

One of those killed was Private Percy Beauchamp. His body was found by comrades after the battle, who took his disc and paybook before arranging to bury his body. Beauchamp was initially buried in a small cemetery not far from where he fell, with other casualties from the battle. In later years of the war, the cemetery was obliterated by further fighting, and Beauchamp’s grave was lost. Today he is commemorated on a special memorial in the Noreuil Australian Cemetery under the words “Their glory shall not be blotted out.” 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 Private Percy Aylmer Beauchamp, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Meleah Hampton
Historian, Military History Section