The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (1712) Private Launcelot Cecil Agnew John Lake, 59th Australian Infantry 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 Richard Cruise, the story for this day was on (1712) Private Launcelot Cecil Agnew John Lake, 59th Australian Infantry Battalion, AIF, First World War.

1712 Private Launcelot Cecil Agnew John Lake, 59th Australian Infantry Battalion, AIF
KIA 19 July 1916


Today we remember and pay tribute to Private Launcelot Cecil Agnew John Lake.

Cecil Lake was born on 11 February 1888 in Yackandandah, Victoria. He was the son of John and Wilhelmina Lake who in later years ran the exchange hotel in Foster, in the Gippsland region of Victoria. Cecil received his education at Melbourne’s Scotch College and as a young adult took up employment as a driver while helping his widowed mother to manage their hotel.

Cecil Lake enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on 6 December 1915 when he 28 years old. He was assigned to the 58th Battalion with the rank of private and embarked from Melbourne on board the troopship Euripides on 4 April 1916. He arrived in Egypt in June, spending just days there before boarding the troopship Kinfauns Castle destined for France. Lake joined his unit on the Western Front at the end of June where they were preparing for their first major action in France, at the battle of Fromelles.

The battle began on 19 July and troops were tasked with attacking the German front line surrounding the treacherous Sugar Loaf salient. The heavily-manned salient extended outwards into no mans’ land, offering the enemy an advantageous position from which it could fire at advancing troops from multiple directions. Bombardment of enemy lines had been taking place for three days before the beginning of the battle, and the allies were confident that the enemy had not survived it, and that they could easily capture their objectives.

Unfortunately, the bombardment only signalled to the enemy that they should anticipate an attack, allowing them time to prepare. The enemy survived the shelling and was able to quickly man machine-guns and begin their own bombardment once the allied shells stopped falling.

The advancing allied troops walked into a relentless hail of machine-gun fire which decimated several waves of Australian soldiers. Lake’s Battalion attacked during the first wave and suffered heavy casualties as a result of German machine-gun fire. While the 59th did not capture its objective, the German front line was eventually reached by other men. Due to the overall failure of the battle, however, the troops were forced to withdraw. In just one night, Australian casualties stood at a staggering 5,533 killed, missing or wounded. Official War Historian Charles Bean labelled the attack “The worst 24 hours in Australian history.”

Hundreds of men were missing, including Private Cecil Lake. None of his comrades saw him after jumping the parapet on 19 July 1916. His body was never recovered from the battlefield and he was declared killed in action the following month in August 1916.

News of the young private’s death was reported in the local newspaper:

“Quite a gloom passed over Foster township on Monday morning when the sad news of Private Cecil Lake having been killed was circulated … he had not long been in the firing line when the unfortunate mishap occurred … the deepest sympathy is felt on all sides for the bereaved mother and family.”

With no known grave, Cecil Lake is commemorated at the VC Corner memorial near Fromelles in northern France.

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 Launcelot Cecil Agnew John Lake, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Meghan Adams
Researcher, Australian War Memorial