The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (2817) Private Frederick Jillett Fealy, 44th 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 (2817) Private Frederick Jillett Fealy, 44th Battalion, AIF, First World War.

2817 Private Frederick Jillett Fealy, 44th Battalion, AIF
KIA 30 March 1918
No photograph in collection

Story delivered 20 March 2016

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private Frederick Jillett Fealy.

Fred Fealy was born on 1 June 1885, the second youngest son of George and Margaret Fealy of Eldorado, Victoria. Eldorado was a goldrush town, and George became one of its leading businessmen at the height of its popularity. Fred was one of at least ten children born to the couple. As they grew up, some of the siblings chose to stay in Eldorado, while others moved away. The youngest son, David, moved to Oaklands, New South Wales, to be near his older brother George, while Fred and his brother Frank moved to Fremantle in Western Australia. Fred took on work as a labourer and wool lumper.

Fred Fealy enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in October 1916, after having been rejected several times. After a period of training in Australia he left Fremantle port on board the troopship Persic just after Christmas in 1916. He was sent to England, where he continued his training, and in July 1917 he was posted to the 44th Battalion and sent to France to fight on the Western Front. The battalion had fought its first major battle in June, at Messines. It continued to fight in the Ypres sector, suffering heavy casualties until it was relieved in October.

Private Fealy would later learn that his youngest brother, David, who had enlisted a few weeks after him, had been killed in action on 8 October 1917 while serving with the 20th Battalion.

Fred Fealy remained with the 44th Battalion as it spent the winter in Belgium, rotating in and out of the front lines. In March 1918 the 44th Battalion left Belgium by train and went south to the Somme to try to stop a major German advance. On 30 March the Germans came through in thick waves, shoulder to shoulder down the slope towards the men of the 3rd Division. After a hard fight, the German advance was stopped.

At some point on this day Private Fred Fealy was killed in action. No record remains of the manner of his death, but his body was recovered from the battlefield and today it lies near the Australian memorial in the Villers-Bretonneux Military Cemetery. He was 32 years old.

His name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my right, among more than 60,000 Australians who died during 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 Frederick Jillett Fealy, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Dr Meleah Hampton
Historian, Military History Section