The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (3051) Private William Gar 4th Pioneer 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 , the story for this day was on (3051) Private William Gar 4th Pioneer Battalion, AIF, First World War.

3051 Private William Gar 4th Pioneer Battalion, AIF
KIA 30 November 1916
No photograph in collection

Story delivered 22 December 2016

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private William Gar.

William Gar was born on 26 November 1891 on Thursday Island to Carlos Gar, a Filipino immigrant, and Mary Ann Gar, a Welsh immigrant. He was the fourth of 14 children born to the couple. He grew up at the Bathurst Mission on Thursday Island, and by the time the First World War broke out he and his brothers were employed as labourers on the island.

After applying to join the AIF in Darwin, Gar was shipped to Brisbane, where he enlisted on 27 August 1915. After his initial training he was allotted to the 10th reinforcements to the 9th Battalion. Shortly afterwards two of his brothers, Matthew and Palencio, joined up. Another brother, Glamor, enlisted in November.

On 5 October Gar embarked from Brisbane aboard the transport ship Warilda, bound for Egypt. On arrival in Egypt he was sent to the 3rd Training Battalion at Zeitoun. His time in Egypt was marked by several disciplinary incidents, which saw him given a total of 168 hours detention.

In February 1916 he was posted to the 49th Battalion, with which he remained for a little over a fortnight before being transferred to the newly formed 4th Pioneer Battalion. Consisting largely of volunteers drawn from Queensland, the men of the 4th Pioneer Battalion were trained as infantrymen, but were also tasked with engineer functions, as many possessed trade qualifications from civilian life.

Gar continued to have difficulties with discipline throughout his service, and was on several occasions punished and fined for his insubordination.

The 4th Pioneer Battalion sailed for France at the beginning of June. It was engaged in digging trenches in the Bois Grenier area in the first week of July, after which it marched south to Albert. As the Australian 4th Division went into action at Pozières, the 4th Pioneer Battalion worked at digging communications trenches, machine-gun posts, and dug-outs. The men continued their supporting work at Mouquet Farm later that month.

October and November were relatively quiet for the 4th Pioneer Battalion, and by 24 November it had moved to Decauville, where it worked to repair the tram line. Six days later, he and another member of his unit were killed by shell-fire while working on the tramlines at Decauville. He was laid to rest in the Longueval Road Cemetery, aged 25.

The following year Matthew Gar was killed on the Western Front, while Palencio died in Queensland. Of the four Gar brothers who enlisted, only Glamor returned to Darwin. He had been awarded a Military Medal for his bravery as a runner during an attack south of Villers-Bretonneux in July 1918.

William Gar’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 Private William Gar, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Michael Kelly
Historian, Military History Section