The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (462) Lieutenant Ronald Alexander Leslie MacDonald, 1st Australian 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 Berelle, the story for this day was on (462) Lieutenant Ronald Alexander Leslie MacDonald, 1st Australian Light Horse Regiment, AIF, First World War.

462 Lieutenant Ronald Alexander Leslie MacDonald, 1st Australian Light Horse Regiment, AIF
KIA 9 August 1916
No photograph in collection

Story delivered 1 May 2016

Today we remember and pay tribute to Lieutenant Ronald Alexander Leslie MacDonald.

Born in Mudgee in New South Wales, Ronald MacDonald was the only son of Elizabeth and Alexander MacDonald of “Erudgere” station. He had two sisters, Flora and Alison. He was educated in Sydney at Shore, the Church of England Grammar School, and later began working as an overseer on the family property.

In April 1914 MacDonald became reacquainted with Rania MacPhillamy, a young woman from Forbes, and by the time MacDonald enlisted in the 1st Light Horse Regiment, just weeks after war was declared, the two were sweethearts.

The 1st Light Horse Regiment was one of three regiments of the 1st Light Horse Brigade. It sailed from Sydney and disembarked in Egypt in December 1914. The light horse was initially considered unsuitable for the Gallipoli campaign, but its men were soon deployed there without their horses to reinforce the infantry.

MacDonald’s regiment landed on the peninsula in May 1915 and was attached to the New Zealand and Australian Division. Just a few days later, on 18 May, the Turks charged the Australian trenches. The attack was repelled, but MacDonald received a bullet wound to his right hand. He was evacuated to Cairo and spent the next few months recuperating.

MacDonald returned to his regiment on Gallipoli at the end of August and was made a second lieutenant in November, before evacuating with the rest of the Australians in December. Back in Egypt, he was reunited with Rania, who had travelled to Cairo as part of the Red Cross Voluntary Aid Detachment program to help in hospitals and convalescent homes there.

Between January and May 1916 the 1st Light Horse Regiment was deployed to protect the Nile valley from bands of pro-Turkish Senussi Arabs. Later, as part of the 1st Light Horse Brigade, it was redeployed to join the forces defending the Suez Canal, and played a significant role in turning back the Turkish advance on the canal at the battle of Romani. In the ensuing days the brigade participated in the immediate follow-up of the defeated Turks, and the senior commanders decided on another attack near Bir el Abd to try to break the enemy’s rear guard.

The Turks had the numbers for the fight, as well as a better position atop the sandy ridges. The fighting was intense and a general withdrawal was ordered late in the day. Casualties for this brief engagement were heavy: 73 were killed, and 243 were wounded, while six were posted as missing. One of those killed in action was Lieutenant Ronald MacDonald. He was 27.

Rania MacPhillamy was devastated by the loss of her sweetheart. She channeled her grief into the war effort, and together with Sydney woman Alice Chisholm she established and ran canteens for soldiers throughout the remainder of the Sinai–Palestine campaign. She was feted for her war work, and was appointed an MBE in 1918 and OBE in 1920.

Lieutenant MacDonald is buried at the Kantara War Memorial Cemetery near the Suez Canal in Egypt. His name is also listed on the Roll of Honour to my right, among the more than 60,000 others who died serving in 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 Lieutenant Ronald MacDonald, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Emma Campbell
Researcher, Military History Section