The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (1517) Private Jeremiah Buckley, 25th Australian Infantry 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 Craig Berelle, the story for this day was on (1517) Private Jeremiah Buckley, 25th Australian Infantry Battalion, AIF, First World War.

1517 Private Jeremiah Buckley, 25th Australian Infantry Battalion, AIF
KIA 31 October 1915

Story delivered 15 December 2017

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private Jeremiah Buckley.

Fondly known as “Sam”, Jeremiah Buckley was born on 11 November 1882, one of 14 children born to John and Catherine Buckley. Jeremiah’s parents were Irish immigrants who had met and married in Australia before settling in Myalla, between Cooma and Nimmitabel in New South Wales, where they farmed a successful and prosperous property known as “Ti-Tree”.

Catherine Buckley died of cancer in 1899, when Jeremiah was 16. After attending Myalla Public School, urged by his father to travel, he made his way to China where he joined the police force. After returning to visit his family in Australia in 1913, he intended to do more travelling, this time to see his parent’s homeland of Ireland.

But with the advent of the Great War, Buckley’s travel plans took an unexpected direction. In March 1915, he travelled to Townsville and enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force with a group from Darwin. He was assigned to the 25th Battalion, which had just been raised at Enoggera. After a few short months, on 29 June Private Buckley left Brisbane aboard the troopship Aeneas, bound for the desert training camps in Egypt. After training in August, he was manning trenches on Gallipoli by early September.

The last major Allied offensive had been launched, and turned back, shortly before the 25th battalion’s arrival, but the Turkish peninsula was still a dangerous place to be.

On 31 October, while men of battalion worked on fire trench supports and communication saps on the seaward slopes of Chunuk Bair, heavy Turkish shelling fell, killing several men. Private Jeremiah Buckley, who was 33 years old, was amongst the dead.

Buckley was buried near where he fell. After the war, headstones were erected in Embarkation Pier Cemetery for men who had been buried in the area, featuring the words “believed to be buried in this cemetery” and “their glory shall not be blotted out”.

Private Buckley’s name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my right, among almost 62,000 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 Jeremiah Buckley, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Emma Campbell Researcher, Military History Section