The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (5503) Private Phillip James Hill, 14th 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 Chris Widenbar, the story for this day was on (5503) Private Phillip James Hill, 14th Battalion, AIF, First World War.

5503 Private Phillip James Hill, 14th Battalion, AIF
KIA 16 October 1916
Story delivered 12 November 2018

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private Phillip James Hill.

Phillip Hill was born in June 1898 in Boorhaman, Victoria, to Phillip and Catherine Hill. He grew up in nearby Rutherglen, where he attended the local state school, and went on to work as a farm and vineyard labourer. He was known in the district as a particularly fine shot, and was successful in a number of local sparrow shooting contests. On the outbreak of war, Philip Hill was described as being “a fine stamp of a young man … eager to get to the front as a volunteer”.

Phillip and his older brother Mick enlisted around the same time in July 1915. Mick fell ill after only a few weeks in camp, and died that October from cerebro-spinal meningitis. Phillip continued training and was posted to the 14th Battalion, leaving Australia for active service overseas in April 1916.

Private Hill was first sent to England where he continued training before being sent to France to join his battalion in July 1916. Shortly after his arrival the 14th Battalion participated in the fighting around the French village of Pozieres. In September the battalion was withdrawn and sent to a quieter sector of the line in Belgium.

In mid-October the 14th Battalion was holding part of the front line on the Ypres Salient. On 16 October, ten days after the anniversary of the death of Mick Hill, the battalion war diary recorded a quiet day until about 6 pm when it came under shrapnel fire from German artillery. Three men were killed in action that day, one of whom was Private Phillip Hill. No record remains of the nature of his death, but his body was removed from the battlefield and buried in nearby Bedford House Cemetery. His remains lie there today under the epitaph, “God be with you till we meet again.”

Private Phillip Hill is also commemorated in the Carlyle Cemetery in Rutherglen on his brother’s headstone. Their epitaph reads “they gave their life their all, in response to their country’s call”. Phillip Hill was 18 years old, his brother Mick 20.

Their names are 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 Phillip James Hill, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Meleah Hampton
Historian, Military History Section