The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (3013) Private Leonard Broadhurst, 55th Battalion, 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 Andrew Smith, the story for this day was on (3013) Private Leonard Broadhurst, 55th Battalion, First World War.

3013 Private Leonard Broadhurst, 55th Battalion
KIA 20 July 1916
No photograph in collection

Story delivered 20 July 2014

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private Leonard Broadhurst of the 55th Battalion, who was killed in action in France in the First World War.

Leonard Broadhurst was born in 1892 to Fred and Ada Broadhurst of Sutton Coldfield in Warwickshire, England. The family immigrated to Australia in 1910 and settled in Marrickville, Sydney, where Leonard worked as a salesman in the years before the war. He enlisted in the AIF at Victoria Barracks in September 1915 with his two younger brothers, Fred and Bertie, and after a period of training at Liverpool Camp the brothers left for Egypt with the 7th reinforcements to the 17th Battalion in December 1915. Leonard’s father also served abroad during the war, travelling to England in 1916 to work in the munitions factories.

The Gallipoli campaign was over by the time the Broadhurst brothers arrived in Egypt, so they spent the next few months training at Mena Camp. In February 1916 all three brothers were transferred to the newly raised 55th Battalion, which was preparing to deploy to France and the Western Front. Though the brothers had enlisted together, sailed together, and transferred to the same unit, they were soon split up: Frederick returned to Australia suffering from endocarditis; Bert was held in a training battalion at Alexandria for several months; and Leonard embarked for France alone in June 1916.

The 55th Battalion proceeded to the relatively quiet “nursery” sector near Armentières, where it was introduced to the routine of trench warfare. Two weeks after arriving, the battalion was among a number of Australian units set to attack the German trenches at Fromelles on the night of 19 July. The 55th Battalion was held in reserve, but as the battle consumed the 14th Brigade men like Leonard were drawn into the battle to help consolidate ground captured from the Germans. In a poorly planned and confusing battle that took place throughout the night, Australian troops were forced to relinquish their gains to repeated waves of attacking German infantry. The 5th Division suffered heavily, incurring more than 5,500 casualties in less than 24 hours.

Among the missing was Private Leonard Broadhurst, last seen in the German trenches with a severe head wound. He remained missing until November, when German authorities forwarded his identity discs and pay book to AIF headquarters. Leonard had died as a prisoner of war on the morning of 20 July 1916, but his remains were never recovered. The Broadhurst family mourned his loss, and for the next thirty years placed regular memorial notices in the local newspaper on the anniversary of his death.

In 2008 an archaeological survey near the village of Fromelles led to the discovery of a German mass grave containing the remains of 250 British and Australian troops killed at Fromelles. Through DNA testing and the forensic analysis of individual artefacts buried in the grave, Private Leonard Broadhurst’s remains were identified. Having been missing for nearly 90 years, he was finally given a proper burial in 2010, reinterred at the new Fromelles (Pheasant Wood) Military Cemetery.

Leonard Broadhurst is listed on the Roll of Honour on my right, along with more than 60,000 other Australians from the First World War. There is no photograph in the Memorial’s collection to display beside the Pool of Reflection.

His is one of the many stories of courage and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Private Leonard Broadhurst and all of those Australians who have given their lives in service of our nation.