The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (1656) Private Vincent Erle Brinkman, 18th 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 Dennis Stockman, the story for this day was on (1656) Private Vincent Erle Brinkman, 18th Battalion, AIF, First World War.

1656 Private Vincent Erle Brinkman, 18th Battalion, AIF
KIA 27 August 1915

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private Vincent Erle Brinkman, who was killed while fighting on Gallipoli during the First World War.

Vincent Brinkman was born in 1892 in the Sydney suburb of Cabramatta, the son of Herbert and Jane Brinkman. He attended Burke Street Public School, and when the First World War began was working as a railway porter and living in Stanmore. Vincent’s father had passed away in 1912, when Vincent was 20 years old.

Brinkman enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in May 1915, joining the reinforcements to the 18th Infantry Battalion. In June, he embarked from Sydney aboard the HMAT Kanowna, bound for Egypt, where he would train until his departure for Gallipoli in August.

Vincent and the 18th Infantry Battalion landed on Gallipoli on 19 August and immediately came to experience the hardships of war. As they worked unloading supplies and ammunition they came under intermittent Turkish artillery shelling. Within days of their landing, they took part in the bloody and confused action at Hill 60, the last major offensive on the Gallipoli peninsula.

The attacks on Hill 60 were designed to widen the foreshore captured by allied forces between Anzac Cove and British forces at Suvla Bay. The first attempt on the hill, which began on 21 August, was partially successful: Australian, New Zealand, British and Indian forces captured a foothold on the hill, but not the summit. A renewed assault the next day was led by Vincent’s 18th Battalion. The newly arrived and inexperienced battalion went bravely into action at dawn but were pushed back by the Turkish defences. The losses were appalling; half of the 18th Battalion became casualties, half of which had been killed.

On 27 August Australian forces took part in a renewed assault on Hill 60. An artillery bombardment commenced at 4 pm and continued for an hour before the attack began. The assault drew immediate and heavy machine-gun, rifle, and shrapnel fire from the Turkish positions, particularly on the right flank, where Vincent and the 18th Battalion were advancing. The battle raged for three days, during which the objective was taken, partially lost, and then retaken. Australian forces had come near the heights of the hill, but the crest was still beyond their reach.

Vincent fell during this bloody battle. Moments after the first assault began on 27 August, one of Vincent’s comrades saw him lying mortally wounded on the parapet of his trench, begging for water. It would appear that he was struck as soon as he leapt out of the trench into no man’s land. He had been on Gallipoli for nine days. He was 23 years old.

His grieving mother, who had lost her husband and son in the space of three years, devoted great energy to finding out the particulars of her son’s death. Due to the fact that Vincent was initially pronounced missing, she held some hope that her son may one day be found. In November 1915, she wrote to the authorities pleading for more information, “I am most anxious to hear something further. Please let me know as soon as possible, and relieve an anxious mother’s heart”. But she was to be bitterly disappointed. An official inquiry declared Vincent presumed dead in January 1916. Due to the chaotic nature of the fighting, his body was never found.

Today his name is commemorated on the Lone Pine Memorial on Gallipoli along with more than 4,900 Australian and New Zealand servicemen who have no known grave.

Private Vincent Erle Brinkman 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 Private Vincent Erle Brinkman, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

David Sutton
Historian, Military History Section