The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of Lieutenant Thomas Percival Hagan, 32nd 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 Gerard Pratt, the story for this day was on Lieutenant Thomas Percival Hagan, 32nd Battalion, AIF, First World War.

Lieutenant Thomas Percival Hagan, 32nd Battalion, AIF
KIA 19 July 1916
Photograph: P09291.176

Story delivered 18 April 2016

Today we remember and pay tribute to Lieutenant Thomas Percival Hagan.

Thomas Hagan, known as “Perce”, was born on 21 June 1894 to Thomas and Edith Hagan of Semaphore, Adelaide. He grew up in the Port Adelaide area, where he attended a local public school and went on to work as a Customs clerk. He was well known in local rowing and tennis circles, and was a member of the Boy Scouts.

Hagan took a keen interest in military matters, serving with the senior cadets for four years and in the Citizen Forces for three and a half. Shortly after the outbreak of war in 1914 he applied for a commission in the Australian Imperial Force. He was sent to the Royal Military College, Duntroon, for training before travelling to Egypt, where he attended further training schools and passed with high distinction.

In March 1916 Hagan was promoted to lieutenant in the 32nd Battalion. He left Egypt in June 1916, bound for France. While at sea he wrote home to his mother, saying: “Don’t worry over me; I shall soon be home again. The Russians are doing fine work and it cannot be long ere the Germans surrender”.

Just under a month after Lieutenant Hagan arrived in France the 32nd Battalion entered the front-line trenches near the French village of Fromelles. Three days later, on 19 July 1916, the battalion participated in its first major operation. The attack was a disaster. Nearly three-quarters of the battalion became casualties, with more than 700 killed, wounded, or missing.

Lieutenant Hagan went missing some time during that first day, and was quickly assumed to have been killed in the battle. It took some time to determine his exact fate, but it was discovered that he had been killed
by machine-gun fire while returning from an advanced position. An eyewitness reported seeing him fall to the ground as though killed instantly.

Lieutenant Hagan’s body was never found, and today his name is recorded on the VC Corner memorial in Fromelles. He was 22 years old.

His name is also listed on the Roll of Honour on my right, among more than 60,000 Australians who died during the First World War. His photograph is displayed today beside the Pool of Reflection.

This is but one of the many stories of service and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Lieutenant Thomas Percival Hagan, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the
hope of a better world.

Dr Meleah Hampton
Historian, Military History Section