The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (359) Corporal Arthur Julius Stewart McCulloch, 12th 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 (359) Corporal Arthur Julius Stewart McCulloch, 12th Battalion, AIF, First World War.

359 Corporal Arthur Julius Stewart McCulloch, 12th Battalion, AIF
KIA 23 July 1916
No photograph in collection

Story delivered 1 July 2016

Today we remember and pay tribute to Corporal Arthur Julius Stewart McCulloch.

Arthur McCulloch was born on 2 April 1893, the youngest son of George and Elizabeth McCulloch of Ulverstone, Tasmania. He attended the local school and spent two years in the military band in Ulverstone. He trained as a blacksmith but went on to work as a miner at Waratah.

Arthur McCulloch enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force shortly after the outbreak of war in August 1914. Three of his brothers would also enlist: William from Queensland, and Edgar and Robert from Sydney. Both Edgar and Robert McCulloch served with the 35th Battalion for the duration of the war. Arthur was the only one posted to the 12th Battalion, and left Australia that October on board the troopship Geelong.

The 12th Battalion was part of the 3rd Brigade, which provided the covering force for the Gallipoli landings of 25 April 1915. Its commanding officer was shot and killed by a sniper within hours of landing, and during the day Private McCulloch was shot twice: once on the thigh and once on the shoulder. He was evacuated from the peninsula and spent several months recovering in hospital in Egypt.

McCulloch re-joined his battalion on Gallipoli in July, and remained there until the evacuation in December. Back in Egypt he was promoted to lance corporal before being sent to a school of instruction in France at the end of March. He passed his course and was promoted to corporal.

The first major action of the 12th Battalion came on 23 July 1916 when it participated in the operation to capture the French village of Pozières.

The Australians captured the heavily fortified village, albeit with heavy casualties, particularly among battalions on the right of the line, as the 12th Battalion was.

Reports suggest that Corporal McCulloch survived the initial attack. A stretcher-bearer, Private McKenzie, later reported that he saw McCulloch sitting in a trench during a lull in the fighting when an artillery barrage came over their position. Shrapnel pierced McCulloch’s steel helmet, killing him instantly. His body could not be recovered during the barrage, and was lost in subsequent fighting. Today he is commemorated on the Memorial to the Missing at Villers-Bretonneux. He was 23 years old.

Three days later William McCulloch was killed in action at Pozières, serving with the 17th Battalion. His body was never recovered, and his name is also listed on the memorial at Villers-Bretonneux.

Corporal Arthur McCulloch’s name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my right, among more than 60,000 Australians who died while 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 Corporal Arthur Julius Stewart McCulloch, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Meleah Hampton
Historian, Military History Section