The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (1467) Lance Corporal John Fay 16th 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 (1467) Lance Corporal John Fay 16th Battalion, AIF, First World War.

1467 Lance Corporal John Fay 16th Battalion, AIF
KIA 26 September 1917
No photograph in collection

Story delivered 16 January 2015

Today we remember and pay tribute to Lance Corporal John Fay.

John Fay was born in Sunderland, England, in 1881 to Patrick and Bridget Fay. He grew up there and attended St Joseph’s Roman Catholic school. After leaving school he was employed as a riveter and later worked with his father in the local paper mill. By 1914, Fay had immigrated to Australia and was working as a labourer at a tin mine in Bellevue, Western Australia.

Following the outbreak of the First World War Fay enlisted for service in the AIF at Blackboy Hill camp on 19 November 1914. He was allotted to the 2nd reinforcements to the 16th Battalion and embarked with his unit from Fremantle aboard the transport ship Itonus on 22 February 1915.

After a brief halt in Egypt, Fay and the other reinforcements were sent forward to join their battalion on the island of Lemnos. The 16th Battalion went ashore on Gallipoli in the evening of 25 April, and on the 27th Fay was wounded in the face, which required his evacuation to England. He recovered and returned to Gallipoli in October and remained until the evacuation in December.

When Fay returned to Egypt, he was hospitalised briefly with jaundice, then sailed for France in March. Fay and the 16th Battalion had a period of front-line service in the Nursery Sector near Armentières before moving south to join the Somme Offensive. The battalion suffered heavy casualties and were withdrawn to rest and refit, then went into the front line again at the end of August, this time at Mouquet Farm. Here, during the attack on 30 August, Fay was wounded for a second time when he was shot in his right leg. He was again evacuated to England.

It wasn’t until May 1917 that Fay returned to France. He spent nearly two weeks at Étaples before being sent forward to re-join his battalion in early June. The battalion spent the next few months training, during which time Fay was promoted to lance corporal.

In September the 16th Battalion moved into the Ypres Salient to take part in the second phase of the third battle of Ypres. On 26 September the 16th took part in the successful attack on Polygon Wood. At 5.50 am the men left their starting positions and an hour later had taken their objective. The battalion war diary states that casualties were slight and a number of men were lost to snipers and machine-gun fire, one of whom was John Fay. He was 36 years old.

Fay’s body was taken back out of the line and he was buried at Hooge Crater Cemetery.

His name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my right, along with more than 60,000 others from 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 John Fay, and all those Australians who have given their lives in the service of our nation.

Michael Kelly
Historian, Military History Section