The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (1111) Lt Thomas William Bartle, 69th Squadron, Australian Flying Corps, 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 Charis May, the story for this day was on (1111) Lt Thomas William Bartle, 69th Squadron, Australian Flying Corps, First World War.

c1111 Second Lieutenant Thomas William Bartle, 69th Squadron Australian Flying Corps
Accidentally Killed 16 June 1917
Photograph: H05748

Story delivered 15 October 2013

Today we remember and pay tribute to Second Lieutenant Thomas William Bartle.

Thomas Bartle was a high school teacher from Castlemaine, Victoria. He also served with the Citizen's Forces, and proved himself to be a reliable NCO while undergoing military training with them. On the outbreak of the First World War he was attached to the 55th Infantry Regiment and served for two years in Fiji and exempt areas of Queensland. While he was with the 55th Infantry Regiment he had passed the Regimental Examination for promotion to Second Lieutenant, but enlisted before he received his commission.

Bartle enlisted for active service in the Australian Imperial Force in March 1916 at the age of 21, and was posted to D Company of the 37th Battalion. He left Australia as a Lance Sergeant in the infantry and in November 1916 he transferred to the 1st Australian Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps.

The squadron had been flying operations in Egypt since June 1916, but sent some of its less experienced pilots, including Bartle, to the United Kingdom for further training. There he finally received his commission and was transferred to No. 69 Squadron, Australian Flying Corps, as a second lieutenant.

On the evening of 16 June 1917, Second Lieutenant Humphrey Wilson, also of the Australian Flying Corps, was in the air over Lancashire, practising artillery observation. He looked up and saw Bartle in a second machine flying straight at him. Although Wilson attempted to fly over Bartle's plane, he could not get out of the way in time, and Bartle ploughed into his rudder and tail skid. Wilson was able to pull his aircraft out of a spin and land it at the nearby aerodrome. Bartle's plane flew straight for another 50 or 60 metres but when he tried to turn left it "crumpled up and crashed to the earth". By the time a nearby ambulance driver reached the scene of the accident, Lieutenant Bartle had died.

Flying the fragile aircraft of the First World War was an extremely dangerous business, and a court of inquiry found that no blame could be attached to either pilot. Bartle was buried by his father's cousins, who lived nearby, in the Lumb Baptist Churchyard near Bacup, Lancashire. He was 22 years old.

Thomas Bartle's name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my right, along with more than 60,000 others from the First World War, and his photograph is displayed today
beside the Pool of Reflection.

This is but one of the many stories of courage and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Second Lieutenant Thomas William Bartle, and all those Australians who have given their lives in the service of our nation.