The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (2635) Corporal Frederick Charles Felgenhauer, 57th 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 Richard Cruise, the story for this day was on (2635) Corporal Frederick Charles Felgenhauer, 57th Battalion, AIF, First World War.

2635 Corporal Frederick Charles Felgenhauer, 57th Battalion, AIF
KIA 29 September 1918
Story delivered 29 September 2018

Today we remember and pay tribute to Corporal Frederick Charles Felgenhauer.

Fred Felgenhauer was born in 1890 to Johann and Isabella Felgenhauer of Kanyapella, Victoria. His grandfather, also Frederick Felgenhaur, had come to Australia from Germany in 1867, and the family had been growing grapes in the Echuca region since. Fred attended the local school in Kanyapella, and went on to work a property at Cornelia Creek with his younger brother Herbert.

Fred left the property in charge of Herbert and enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in mid-1915. He underwent a period of training in Australia before leaving for active service overseas with reinforcements to the 23rd Battalion. He was first sent to Egypt where he was transferred to the 57th Battalion as a part of the expansion and reorganisation of the AIF. When not training, Fred spent time in Cairo and Heliopolis, writing to his parents that “Cairo, I think, is the pick of the towns here … the zoo is well worth a visit.” He remained in Egypt until June 1916, when his battalion was sent to France to fight on the Western Front.

The 57th Battalion took a minor role in the attack on Fromelles, but took on the major part of defending the line after the other battalions in its brigade suffered severe casualties. In October 1916, while the brigade was rebuilding, Felgenhauer was promoted to corporal.

In March 1917, while holding the line near Beaumetz, the 57th Battalion sent out a party to occupy a farm house. In the process eight men were killed and nearly 30 wounded. One of those wounded was Corporal Felgenhauer, who had been shot in the elbow. He was evacuated to England, and after a few weeks in hospital, wrote home to say, “I am perfectly well now except for a scar on my elbow, which will always be there,” and adding, “I have had a grand time since I was wounded, especially in the hospitals in England”. He was able to spend further time on furlough visiting Glasgow and London before being sent back to the Western Front in November 1917.

Within three weeks, Felgenhauer had been wounded again, this time by a fragment of shell which struck him in the back as his battalion was being relieved from the front line near Ypres. This was a less serious wound, and he was treated in France before being sent to a convalescent depot near Auvergne. He returned to his battalion at the end of April 1918, days after it had participated in the recapture of Villers-Bretonneux.

Corporal Felgenhauer fought through the Battle of Amiens on 8 August and the hard combat that followed. By the end of September the Australian Corps was faced by the strongest German defences on the Western Front: the Hindenburg Line. On 29 September 1918 the 57th Battalion was part of a massive operation to capture the line over the Bellicourt tunnel. In the Australian sector the attack was launched by two American regiments, which struggled to advance across strongly defended ground which had multiple entrances to the canal tunnel below. German defenders, popping up unexpectedly all across the battlefield, were able to break down the American advance and cause confusion across the entire line.

The Australians launched their attack into this confusion, in many places reorganising the Americans and pushing the attack forward. Corporal Felgenhauer came across a wounded American soldier, but as he was assisting stretcher bearers to take him to safety, the party was struck by an artillery shell, and Felgenhauer was killed instantly.

His company commander later wrote to Felgenhauer’s parents to say, “he was one of my best NCO’s … by his death I have lost a true and tried friend.”

Corporal Felgenhauer was buried in the Bellicourt British Cemetery under the epitaph chosen by his family: “Life’s labor done, to God and country true life’s crown hath won.” He was 29 years old.

His 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 Corporal Frederick Charles Felgenhauer, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Meleah Hampton
Historian, Military History Section