The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (466) Sergeant William Cole, 10th 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 (466) Sergeant William Cole, 10th Battalion, AIF, First World War.

466 Sergeant William Cole, 10th Battalion, AIF
KIA 9 October 1917
No photograph in collection

Story delivered 1 December 2016

Today we remember and pay tribute to Sergeant William Cole.

Born Wilford Holbrook Cole in 1888 in the town of Carisbrook, Victoria, William Cole was the first of four children born to William and Esther Cole. He grew up in the nearby town of Maryborough and attended the local school, though by 1909 he had left school to work alongside his father as a miner.

By the time the First World War began Cole had moved to South Australia and was working as a labourer for the South Australian Railway.

He enlisted on 24 August 1914 at Morphettville in Adelaide and was posted to B Company of the newly raised 10th Battalion. After his initial training, he embarked in October 1914 aboard the transport ship Ascanius.

The 10th Battalion landed in Egypt in December and continued training, the men spending their leave exploring Cairo and surrounds. In March the Battalion sailed to Lemnos in preparation for the Gallipoli campaign.

Cole was among the first wave of troops ashore at Gallipoli in the pre-dawn hours of 25 April 1915. He remained on Gallipoli throughout the campaign and by October had been promoted to temporary corporal. Following the 10th Battalion’s evacuation from Gallipoli in early December, Cole was promoted to full corporal.

The battalion returned to Egypt in January 1916 and early the following month Cole was admitted to hospital with a dermatological condition.

He missed sailing to France with his battalion and instead made the journey some months later in early May. After being posted to an entrenching battalion, Cole managed to transfer back to the 10th Battalion at the end of July.

In August Cole took part in the battle for Mouquet Farm and was promoted to temporary sergeant. He was shot in the foot and evacuated to England for treatment, re-joining his battalion in early December. He was then promoted to temporary sergeant.

Following a bitter winter, the 10th Battalion was involved in following the German army as it withdrew to its prepared positions known as the Hindenburg Line. Cole was wounded for a second time during the attack on German positions at Le Barque and hospitalised until mid-March.

In May 1917 Cole was posted to the 1st Anzac Corps School. His rank of sergeant was confirmed and he returned to his battalion in July. He took part in the battles of Menin Road and Polygon Wood in September, and the capture of Broodseinde Ridge in October.

On 9 October the 10th Battalion was ordered to raid Celtic Wood. C Company was tasked with the raid, though the number of raiders had to be supplemented by volunteers from other companies. As the senior sergeant, Cole was made acting company sergeant major.

The raid began at 5.20 am, and the men began taking fire from German machine-guns. Cole made it to Celtic Wood, where fierce hand-to-hand fighting took place. When it was time for the raiders to withdraw, Cole, who had been tasked with giving the signal, raised his pistol and fired a flare.

Private Daniel Rhodes, one of the survivors of the raid, described what happened next: “I saw him put up a flare light and immediately afterwards I saw him shot and he fell dead.”

William Cole was 29 years old.

The surviving raiders evacuated the German trenches under heavy fire. Cole’s body could not be recovered, and his name was added to the Menin Gate Memorial for those who died but have no known graves.

Cole’s name is also 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 Sergeant William Cole, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Michael Kelly
Historian, Military History Section