The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (5697) Corporal Joseph Albert Faragher, 44th 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 Craig Barelle, the story for this day was on (5697) Corporal Joseph Albert Faragher, 44th Battalion, AIF, First World War.

5697 Corporal Joseph Albert Faragher, 44th Battalion, AIF
KIA 2 August 1917

Today we remember and pay tribute to Corporal Joseph Albert Faragher.

Joseph Faragher, known as Albert, was born around 1891 in Douglas, on the Isle of Man. The son of Walter Faragher, he was educated at the local public school and at some point came to Australia. He made his way to Western Australia, where he took up farming. He became a well-known soccer player in the Geraldton district, playing for the Moonyoonooka team. He had a wide circle of friends, and seems to have had one particular female friend in Miss Ada Shields.

Albert Faragher enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in March 1916. He underwent a period of training in Australia before leaving for active service overseas in July 1916 with reinforcements to the 11th Battalion. He was first sent to England, where he continued training on Salisbury Plain. In September 1916 he was transferred to the 44th Battalion, and would join them on the battlefields of northern France the following November.

Private Faragher arrived on the Western Front at the start of the coldest winter on record, remaining with his battalion as it rotated in and out of the front line. He wrote to Ada Shields to tell her about his holiday, “I thought that I was in for a few days' rest, but had to go in the trenches the following day, Christmas Day. No doubt you can understand what a Christmas Day it was—tin dog and bread for dinner. We did have a bit of plum-duff for tea. I was also in the trenches for New Year's Day. It was about the hottest day I have put in. I was dodging shells all day.”

But he saw the best of things, adding, “It makes one laugh at times to see us dodging the German shells. One bloke would sing out, “Here’s one coming,” and we would lie flat down in the trench before he had finished saying it, very often up to our eyes in mud.”

In late February 1917 the 44th Battalion entered the front line near Armentieres. As the men filtered into position, the Germans launched an artillery bombardment on their position. Private Faragher was shot in the knee during the bombardment, and had to be evacuated from the front line severely wounded.

Faragher was sent to hospital in England where he recovered from his wounds enough to be sent back to camp near Salisbury for his convalescence. He was finally fit to rejoin his battalion in France in June 1917, and was promoted to Corporal six weeks later.

On 2 August 1917 the 44th Battalion was in the front line at Messines, holding a position that had been captured two months before in a spectacular operation launched by explosions from 19 massive mines. There was a considerable amount of artillery fire from both sides going over the men’s heads, and the infantry worked hard to repair damaged defences underneath. Patrols snuck out into no man’s land under the cover of darkness, trying to get some idea of the enemy’s situation.

On that day an artillery shell scored a direct hit on the 44th Battalion’s trenches. Corporal Albert Faragher and three other men were killed instantly. A number of Faragher’s mates wrote letters to his family and friends in England and Australia to let them know what had happened to Albert. Private Pearson wrote to a friend in Geraldton to say, “poor chap, he was killed a few days ago right alongside me. He was killed right out and suffered not pain. He was a good fighter and knew no fear.”

Sergeant McClure wrote to Ada Shields, saying “I wrote to his people, and I can tell you I did not care much about the job, as it is a sad one at any time, but I know that those who were dear to him will like to know all about it.” It was difficult for McClure to write to Ada, too, but, he said, “I hope it will make it easier for you when I tell you that Albert was one of the best soldiers in our battalion … I am enclosing a letter found in his pocket which he had been writing to you and had not finished, and I know you will be pleased to receive it … the friends of Albert and myself send our sympathies in your sad bereavement.”

Corporal Albert Faragher’s body was lost in later fighting. With no known grave, he is commemorated on the Menin Gate Memorial, among the names of nearly 55,000 British, Australian, Canadian, South African and Indian soldiers who died in Belgium and also have no known grave. He was 27 years old.

A year after Faragher’s death, Ada Shields put a notice in the Geraldton Express as “a tribute to the memory of Corporal Faragher. It read:
His country’s call he answered,
The dear old flag to save
And for the good old homeland
His dear young life he gave.
He nobly did his duty,
One of Australia’s best;
He fought with the brave,
His life he gave,
And now he rests in a soldier’s grave.
His name 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 Corporal Joseph Albert Faragher, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Meleah Hampton
Historian, Military History Section