Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

From François Berthout

Pte 2482/B Lindsay Steer
27th Australian Infantry Battalion,
7th Brigade, 2nd Australian Division
 
In the fields of the Somme, red with millions of poppies, are sometimes heard in the distance the murmurs, the voices of young men who more than a hundred years ago, in the trenches and the barbed wire, under the shells and the bugles, gave their today and their lives alongside their friends and their brothers in arms with whom today they still stand proud behind the rows of their white graves which tell us in a few words, the story of an entire generation of heroes who, for their country and for France, did their duty with the greatest bravery until their last breath and over whom I am proud to watch over to perpetuate their memory, to bring them back to life, so that their names and their sacrifices will never be forgotten.

Today, it is with the utmost respect and deepest gratitude that I would like to honor the memory of one of these young men, one of my boys of the Somme who gave his today for our tomorrow.I would like to pay a very respectful tribute to Private number 2482/B Lindsay Steer who fought in the 27th Australian Infantry Battalion, 7th Brigade, 2nd Australian Division, and who died of his wounds 106 years ago, on February 27, 1917 at the age of 23 on the Somme front.

Lindsay Steer was born on February 28, 1894 in Wolsesley, South Australia, and was the son of George Steer who died on January 7, 1920 at the age of 68 and Alice Steer who died on September 8, 1944 at the age of 82 and who rest together in peace at Mundulla Cemetery. Before the outbreak of the war, Lindsay was single and worked as a farmer in Bordertown, South Australia where he lived.

Lindsay enlisted on March 27, 1916 in Adelaide, South Australia, in the 50th Australian Infantry Battalion, 5th Reinforcement, and after a period of training of five months, he embarked with his unit from Adelaide, on board HMAT A73 Commonwealth on September 21, 1916 and sailed for England.

On November 14, 1916, Lindsay arrived in England and was disembarked in Plymouth, Devon then joined the 13th Training Battalion the following day in Codford, Wiltshire.

Although Codford was peripheral to the main army training areas on and around Salisbury Plain, its easy rail and road access to Warminster and Salisbury made it an attractive location for garrisoning troops.During the First World War, there were no fewer than 15 different camps built in and around Codford, at first to accommodate British troops before their deployment to France but after 1916 also Australian and New Zealand troops (ANZACs).

After more than a month of training in Codford, Lindsay and his unit embarked from Folkestone, Kent, on board "Princess Victoria" on December 28, 1916 and arrived in Etaples the next day where he was transferred to the 27th Australian Infantry Battalion under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Walter Dollman and whose motto was "Primus Inter Pares" (First Among Equals).

Two months later, on February 4, 1917, Lindsay marched out of the 2nd Australian Divisional Base Depot and marched to unit, he was taken on strength the next day on the Warlencourt front line and joined his unit in a support trench, the "Scotland Trench" but were relieved on February 6 by the 25th Australian Infantry Battalion and marched for the "Villa Camp".
On February 10, 1917, Lindsay and the 27th Australian Infantry Battalion joined the Scots Redoubt North Camp near Flers where they underwent a period of training, including tactical exercises then on February 14, the battalion returned to the front line and relieved the 22nd Australian Infantry Battalion and four days later, on February 18, after being heavily bombarded by German artillery, they were relieved by the 25th Australian Infantry Battalion and marched for Sussex Camp, near Bazentin-Le-Petit but the rest was of short duration and on February 22, the battalion marched for Fricourt and entered the trenches of Warlencourt on February 25, again in the "Scotland Trench" where unfortunately, two days later, under the shells, the battalion suffered terribly and Lindsay was very seriously injured by shrapnel on his face, he was immediately evacuated and admitted to the 5th Field Ambulance in Contalmaison where unfortunately he died later the same day, he was 23 years old.

Today, Lindsay Steer rests in peace alongside his friends, comrades and brothers in arms at Contalmaison Chateau Cemetery, Somme, and his grave bears the following inscription: "In memory of the dearly loved son of G.and A.Steer."

Lindsay, you who fought with the greatest bravery on the battlefields of northern France, it is today on the sacred lands of the Somme that you rest in peace after having served with courage and honor, with loyalty and devotion alongside your brothers, your comrades among the poppies, in the darkness and the cold of the trenches, in camaraderie they did their duty fearlessly charging bayonets forward in the face of the fury of a world at war and to the hail of bullets spat out by enemy machine gun fire and found in each other the strength, the courage, the determination to face hell, the nightmare in which they lived day and night among rats and lice in the smell of unbearable death hovering over no man's land, which was nothing but fields pounded by deluges of shells, putrid quagmires into which men and horses fell and which were the theater of terrible battles, of courageous charges which led waves of men, a whole generation of exceptional men who fell one after the other in unimaginable bloodbath but in the face of death they never backed down, not one of them and all went forward aware that the future of the world was on their shoulders and for their families, their friends, their children, for us they gave their youth, they gave the best of themselves beyond their limits and made their country proud as Lindsay did for Australia but not only because today, thanks to him and so many other young men like him, we live in peace and our gratitude to them will be eternal.Shoulder to shoulder, they lived each day as if it were the last, their heads lowered under their steel helmets they suffered endless storms of fire and steel and found in each other comfort, support, humanity that kept them from sinking into madness. Together, they shared the sufferings, the fears and the doubts but also the joys and the hopes that kept them alive, they shared their lives and the photos of their loved ones who were their world and for which they fought with ardor, with all their heart and their energy on these lands of France which they knew little but for which they gave their lives and became our sons, our heroes who, like Lindsay and all the Australians who fought in the Somme, were deeply loved and admired and more than a hundred years later, these feelings, this love and this admiration towards them has not changed and will never change, we will watch with love and devotion over their graves and t the graves of their brothers in arms, we will keep their history strong and alive, we will take care to perpetuate their memory so that they are never forgotten and so that their names live on forever, we will always welcome their families with honor and we will guide their steps where their ancestors, their men fought and fell, that's what I would always do with passion and deep love so that the flame of remembrance never ceases to shine in the Somme where so many young men gave their today and their lives. I am and will always be proud and honored to be there for them, to remember who they were and what they did for us so that their courage inspires us, the Australian flag will always fly high in the Somme, under the sun, in the remembrance of a generation gone but not forgotten and who stand young forever behind the rows of their white graves.Thank you so much Lindsay, for everything. At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember him,we will remember them.