The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (24492) Driver Walter Harold Reynell, 8th Field Artillery Brigade, AIF, FirstWorld 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 Sharon Bown, the story for this day was on (24492) Driver Walter Harold Reynell, 8th Field Artillery Brigade, AIF, FirstWorld War.

24492 Driver Walter Harold Reynell, 8th Field Artillery Brigade, AIF
DOW 11 November 1917
Story delivered 26 November 2018

Today we remember and pay tribute to Gunner Walter Harold Reynell.

Walter Reynell was born in 1896, the only child of Walter and Louisa Reynell of Bendigo, Victoria. He was educated at the Bendigo High School and later Dr Crowther’s Grammar School in Brighton, and went on to work in his father’s auctioneering firm. His father’s hope was to retire and hand the business over to his son. Walter junior was a keen sportsman, and won awards at school for heavyweight throwing, high jump, running, and boxing. He also took a keen interest in military matters, and held the rank of lieutenant in the local cadet forces.

Walter Reynell tried to enlist in the Australian Imperial Force early in the war, but was turned down because of problems with his feet. As more men were needed, enlistment requirements relaxed, and Reynell was accepted for active service in March 1916. He was posted to the field artillery, and after a period of training in Australia left in June 1916 for active service overseas.

After arriving in England, Driver Reynell continued training on the Salisbury Plain before being selected to attend the Royal Artillery Cadet School in St John’s Wood, London. In August 1917 he was sent to France to join the 3rd Divisional Artillery, eventually being posted to the 8th Australian Field Artillery Brigade.

Just over a month after arriving in France, Driver Reynell was wounded in the left arm by a shell fragment while in action in Zillebeke, near Ypres. He was evacuated to a hospital behind the lines, but his wound was not serious enough to see him sent to England and he rejoined his brigade in early November 1917.

Five days after rejoining his unit, the brigade went into action at Hill 63 in Belgium. Between 9 and 10 am on 11 November 1917, a German artillery shell landed near his position, killing or wounding at least five. Driver Reynell was wounded in the abdomen. He died shortly after help arrived.
Today Gunner Walter Harold Reynell is buried in the Birks Cemetery Extension in Belgium under the words “dearly loved and only son of Mr and Mrs W. A. Reynell, Bendigo.” He was 21 years old.

His 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 Gunner Walter Harold Reynell, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Meleah Hampton
Historian, Military History Section