Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

From François Berthout

Today, the sun is shining on the old battlefields of the Somme, lighting up the graves of thousands of men who rest in peace here, under a serene sky and peaceful silence, on these fields of France on which poppies bloom where so much blood was shed over a hundred years ago, it is today with deep gratitude and great respect that I would like to pay a very respectful tribute to one of those young boys who fell here, the Private number 854 Percy Theodore Gardiner who fought in the 13th Australian Infantry Battalion and who was killed in action 104 years ago on August 29, 1916 at the age of 19 on the Somme front.

Percy Theodore Gardiner was born in 1897 in Newcastle, New South Wales and was the son of Theodore Coster and Zenobia Winifred Gardiner of Hope Street, Wallsend, New South Wales and native of East Maidland, New South Wales. Before the outbreak of the war, Percy was single and lived at 4, Bryant Street, Tighes Hill, Newcastle, where he worked as a machinist and he served in the 16th Infantry Battalion of the Citizens Military Forces.

Enlisted on September 26, 1914 in Rosehill, New South Wales, at the age of 18 in the 13th Australian Infantry Battalion, H Company, he embarked with his unit from Melbourne, Victoria, on board Transport A38 Ulysses on December 22, 1914 and sailed for the Gallipoli Peninsula where he arrived on April 12, 1915.

A month later, on May 18, 1915, he was wounded by a machine gun bullet in the right groin and was evacuated to the Casualty Clearing Station of the 13th Battalion then he was evacuated in Malta at Valetta Military Hospital on May 24.

The following month, after recovering from his injury, Percy sailed for England on board HS News on June 7, 1915 and was disembarked in Weymouth on February 24, 1916,and was sent to "Monte Video Camp" near Salisbury where he received his training and was sent to France where he was disembarked at Etaples on July 26, 1916.

A month later, on August 15, 1916, Percy joined his battalion on the Somme front in the Albert sector but unfortunately thirteen days later, on August 29, 1916, Percy was reported missing but his body was found and Percy was then reported as being "killed in action".

Today,Percy Theodore Gardiner rests in peace with his friends and brothers in arms at Courcelette British Cemetery and his grave bears the following inscription "Dearly loved, we sadly miss him, he was one of the best of sons".

Percy had a brother, Private number 3048 Bertie Stephen Way Gardiner who fought in the 53rd Australian Infantry Battalion, sadly, he was killed in action a month before his brother Percy in Fromelles, France, on July 19, 1916 and has no known grave.He is commemorated at Victoria Cross Corner, (Panel number 8), Australian Cemetery Memorial, Fromelles.He was 26 years old.

Percy, you who had just started to live, at 19, your life was taken too early on the battlefields of the great war, young but brave, you answered the call of duty alongside your comrades and your brother Bertie, together under the same flag, with the same determination to serve your country and the same courage in the heart to do your duty, young men from Australia who decided, all together to fight for the people of France who suffered and who saw in you a new hope, and who saw on your young faces, a new breath of life and the hope of an approaching peace, a peace for which you and your comrades fought and for which so many young men fell into the mud of the trenches of the Somme who saw the sufferings and shattered hopes of young men who wanted to survive and see their families again and who, day and night, faced the worst horrors of war, who saw their friends, your friends falling for a few meters of ground gained under a hail of bullets, in an outburst of violence and fury through a hail of shells, in catastrophic bayonet charges, men who, courageous and brave, ended their lives in barbed wire and the mud, in the icy water of this hell on earth that we can only try to imagine, it is here Percy, in these fields which are today peaceful and silent that you fell after having given everything for your country , your family and for us who want to understand and who want to learn from you by walking in your footsteps, on these ancient battlefields where the poppies sway to the rhythm of the wind, an eternal symbol of your courage and your sacrifice, they remind us every day that millions of young men like you gave their lives and their today so that we live today in peace, a fragile and precious peace for which you and your brother gave your life,we will never forget that it is thanks to you that we are here today and that we can live and enjoy a world at peace for which so much blood has shed. we will be eternally grateful to you Percy, for having given your youth and your life for us.Here in the Somme you rest, in our hearts you live, in the light of day and of hope, your names will shine forever, your memory will never fade and with respect, devotion and love I will always watch over you, none of you will ever be forgotten.

Living to honor your memory and to take care of you is a privilege and I will always be there for you and your families.Thank you Percy, from the bottom of my heart.At the going down of the sun and in the morning,we will remember him,we will remember them.