The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of Captain Archibald Hewland Raymond, 2nd Field Artillery Brigade, 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 Sharon Bown, the story for this day was on Captain Archibald Hewland Raymond, 2nd Field Artillery Brigade, AIF, First World War.

Captain Archibald Hewland Raymond, 2nd Field Artillery Brigade, AIF
KIA 3 March 1917

Today we remember and pay tribute to Captain Archibald Hewland Raymond.

Archibald Raymond, known as “Archie” to his family and friends, was born in Brisbane on 4 April 1893, the son of Alfred and Jessie Raymond. He attended Southport High School, where he was a well-known rower and tennis player. He also gained valuable military experience, serving for three and a half years in his school’s cadets, reaching the rank of sergeant. After school, he worked as a clerk, and lived in the Brisbane suburb of Kangaroo Point.

Archibald Raymond enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on 20 August 1914, soon after the outbreak of the First World War, and joined the 3rd Australian Field Artillery Brigade. Just two months later, he sailed from Adelaide to Egypt aboard the transport ship Medic. On 1 February 1915, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant, and on his 22nd birthday joined the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force in preparation for the Anzac landings on Gallipoli. Raymond served throughout the Gallipoli campaign, and with his unit provided artillery support at key battles such as Lone Pine and the Nek.

Following the evacuation of Gallipoli, Raymond spent time in Egypt as the Australian Imperial Force underwent a period of growth and reorganisation. On 12 March 1916 he was promoted to the rank of captain, and later that month sailed for France.

Upon arrival in France, Raymond transferred to the 1st Divisional Ammunition Column. In July, he supported Australian troops at Pozieres in the Somme region of northern France. During the bitterly cold January of 1917 Raymond transferred to the 2nd Field Artillery Brigade, where he served in the 4th Battery.

On 3 March 1917, Raymond was moving up to a new gun position near Montauban, to the south of Bapaume with Lieutenant George Miller when a German 5.9-inch shell burst among them. Miller received a severe wound to the stomach and died of his injuries a day later. Raymond was killed instantly. He was 23 years old.

Raymond and Miller are buried next to each other in the Flatiron Copse Cemetery in France, where over 1,500 soldiers of the First World War are commemorated. His grieving family wrote of him in a Brisbane newspaper, “Greater love hath no man than this, that he gave down his life for his friends”.

Captain Archibald Hewland Raymond 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 Captain Archibald Hewland Raymond, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

David Sutton
Historian, Military History Section