The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (142) Driver Andrew Day, 2nd Light Horse Regiment, 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 Craig Berrelle, the story for this day was on (142) Driver Andrew Day, 2nd Light Horse Regiment, AIF, First World War.

142 Driver Andrew Day, 2nd Light Horse Regiment, AIF
DOD 11 February 1917
No photograph in collection

Story delivered 14 October 2015

Today we remember and pay tribute to Driver Andrew Day.

Andrew Day was born in 1894 Murwillumbah, New South Wales, to Andrew and Catherine Day. When the First World War began, he was working as a labourer.

He enlisted in Brisbane on 20 August 1914; two months shy of his 20th birthday. He was posted to the 2nd Light Horse Regiment at Enoggera, and after his initial training he embarked with his unit that September aboard the transport ship A15 Star of England. This ship sailed to Albany, Western Australia, and was part of the first convoy of the AIF that departed Albany on 1 November 1914.

The AIF spent several months training in Egypt before leaving for Lemnos and the Gallipoli campaign in March. The light horsemen were initially left in Egypt, but were called for as reinforcements and arrived in early May.

The 2nd Light Horse Regiment spent the next few months in and out of the front line at what became known as Quinn’s Post. As part of the August Offensive the 2nd Light Horse attacked Turkish trenches opposite Quinn’s Post on 7 August. The attack was disastrous, and in the first wave the regiment suffered 14 men killed and 36 wounded. Day was one of those wounded, shot in his left wrist, and was evacuated to Egypt.

Following his recovery Day was seconded to a base unit and was re-mustered as a driver in January 1916. Over the next six months he was briefly hospitalised at times with mild influenza and a skin complaint, but returned to his regiment in Egypt at the end of July.

The 2nd Light Horse was involved in defending the Suez Canal from raiding Senussi Arabs. In the early hours of 2 August Day was part of a camel train escort taking water to an Australia outpost. During the journey the Australians encountered a strong Turkish position near Romani. The Turks opened fire, wounding and unhorsing three Australians, one of whom was Day. He and one of his wounded comrades were taken prisoner, while the third was found the following day by an Australian patrol.

Initially interred at Afiun Kara Hissar, Day was later transferred to Angora. He and his fellow prisoners were set to work building a railway. Conditions experienced by the prisoners were harsh, and as a result Day developed bronchial tuberculosis.

In early 1917 Day was part of a group laying railway line approximately 30 miles from Angora. His condition worsened, and he was sent to a hospital in Angora. There he died from his illness on 11 February. He was buried in an unmarked grave. None of his comrades was permitted to attend his burial, and his final resting place remains unknown.

The Imperial War Graves Commission set up special memorial to the men who died as prisoners of the Turks at the Baghdad (North Gate) War Cemetery. Each man, including Day, was commemorated with an individual headstone.

Day’s name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my right, among 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 Driver Andrew Day, and all Australians who have given their lives in service of our nation.

Michael Kelly
Historian, Military History Section