The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (1609) Lieutenant Herman Edgar Mengersen, 25th 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 Troy Clayton, the story for this day was on (1609) Lieutenant Herman Edgar Mengersen, 25th Battalion, AIF, First World War.

4775 Private James John Corrigan, 46th Battalion, AIF
KIA 9 August 1916

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private James John Corrigan.

James Corrigan was born around 1893, the only son among five children born to James and Julia Corrigan of Quambatook, in northern Victoria. Corrigan’s parents died when he was quite young, and he and his younger sister Francis May grew up together in the care of their uncle Patrick Barnes, a hotel-keeper in Chillingollah, to the north of Quambatook.

Known as “Jim” to his family and friends, James Corrigan attended the local state school, and later worked as a labourer and share farmer in the area. He was described as a “sturdy young fellow”, who took “an active part in sport, playing a sterling game of football, and with a withal quiet and unassuming in a manner which won the esteem of everyone in the district”.

Corrigan volunteered to serve in the Australian Imperial Force on 2 August 1915. He did not formally enlist and begin his training, however, until January 1916. One source indicates that he did this because he did not want to leave town until he had fulfilled his obligations and helped out with the harvest.

After enlisting, he underwent a period of training, and on 14 March sailed from Melbourne for service overseas with the reinforcements of the 14th Infantry Battalion. He arrived in Egypt in April, too late to take part in the Gallipoli campaign, but was present for a period known as the “doubling of the AIF”, when new recruits were mixed with Gallipoli veterans in new and expanding Australian units. Corrigan was posted in the 4th Australian Training Battalion as he waited to join a unit.

On 7 June 1916 he sailed from Alexandria in Egypt for France, arriving a week later. Once there, he transferred to northern France, and on 21 July joined the 46th Battalion, which formed part of the 12th Brigade of the 4th Australian Division. Corrigan first joined his unit as they were training behind the lines at Berteaucourt, near the River Somme. In late July and early August, Corrigan and the 46th Battalion moved from Berteaucourt westwards to Albert.

They were moving towards a sector of the Western Front near the village of Pozieres, where Australians had been involved in desperate fighting with German forces and suffered thousands of casualties. Corrigan and the 46th Battalion first became involved in the battle by providing support to the 2nd Division. This was vital work, as they carried supplies and ammunition to the desperately fighting front-line troops.

On 8 August, Corrigan and the 46th Battalion for the first time took up front line duties by defending a sector of the trenches near Pozieres with the 12th Brigade. Corrigan’s unit formed part of the right flank of this defence.

On 9 August 1916, the day after moving into front-line duties for the first time, Corrigan was reported to have been killed in action. The exact nature of his death is unknown, but it is likely that he was killed by German high explosive artillery fire. He was 23 years old.

His family back home in Australia was devastated by the loss of their dearly loved brother and nephew. His younger sister Frances May chose an epitaph for his grave that read:
If we had known, when last we lightly parted,
That during life our hands would clasp no more,
That each who said farewell so cheerful hearted,
Would find the grief the future held in store.

Sadly, this message was too long for a standard headstone and a shorter one was never placed on his grave. For the rest of her life, Frances always referred to him as “Poor Jim”.

Today, his remains lie buried in the Pozieres British Cemetery Ovillers-La Boisselle in France, where nearly 1,400 casualties of the First World War now lie.
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 James John Corrigan, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

David Sutton
Historian, Military History Section