The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (872) Company Sergeant Major William James Maclaren, 7th Australian Infantry 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 Meleah Hampton, the story for this day was on (872) Company Sergeant Major William James Maclaren, 7th Australian Infantry Battalion, AIF, First World War.

872 Company Sergeant Major William James Maclaren, 7th Australian Infantry Battalion, AIF
KIA 8 May 1915

Today we remember and pay tribute to Company Sergeant Major William James Maclaren.

William Maclaren was born in 1874 to William and Ann Frances Maclaren at Fryerstown, near Castlemaine in Victoria. He attended Castlemaine Grammar School, and on leaving school, became a miner in the district.

In 1899, war broke out between the British Empire and the two Boer republics in southern Africa; it became known as the Boer War. Australian and other British colonies sent contingents of soldiers to support the British Imperial army. After Federation in 1901, Australia sent troops overseas for the first time as a nation. Maclaren was one of these men. He enlisted in the second contingent, joining the 4th Battalion, Australian Commonwealth Horse, in February 1902.

Maclaren arrived in Durban, South Africa, just as peace negotiations were beginning, and his battalion saw service guarding and escorting Boer delegates to the peace conference in Vereeniging. Once the peace agreement was signed on the last day of May, the 4th Battalion participated in celebratory parades in Pretoria, and returned to Australia in August.

Maclaren married Mary Donnes in 1905, and the couple had four children. In 1908, he became a teacher at Pannoomilloo State School, near Rochester, Victoria, and eventually became headmaster of the school.

When Britain declared war against Germany in 1914, Maclaren was one of the first to enlist in the Australian Imperial Force. He joined the 7th Australian Infantry Battalion in August. With his South African War service and six years in the Victorian militia, he enlisted at the rank of sergeant. Two months after he signed up, he embarked from Melbourne on the transport ship Hororata, as part of the first convoy of transport ships to leave Australia for the war. Maclaren and the 7th Battalion arrived in Egypt in early December.

The Australian troops trained in Egypt for the next several months, preparing to join the British offensive in the Dardanelles that aimed at knocking the Ottoman Empire out of the war. On 25 April 1915, the 7th Battalion was in the second wave of the Australian and New Zealand troops who landed at Anzac Cove. Maclaren performed his duty well, and at the end of April, he was promoted to Company Sergeant Major.

In early May, the 2nd Brigade, of which the 7th Battalion was part, was transferred from the west coast of the Gallipoli peninsula to Cape Helles, at the southern tip. Their objective was to support British, New Zealand and French soldiers attempting to capture the village of Krithia. At 5.30 pm on 8 May 1915, the men of the 7th Battalion advanced across open ground and began to dig in under heavy Turkish rifle and machine-gun fire. During the advance, Maclaren was killed. He was 40 years old. Having sustained heavy casualties, the Australian troops had to retreat, and his remains could not be recovered.

William Maclaren is commemorated at Helles Memorial on the Gallipoli peninsula, alongside more than 20,000 allied servicemen who died at Cape Helles and have no known grave.

Maclaren was survived in Australia by his wife Mary, and their four children, Donald, Thelma, William Maurice, and Alainie.

Company Sergeant Major William James Maclaren 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 Company Sergeant Major William James Maclaren, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Thomas Rogers
Historian, Military History Section