The Australian War Memorial in Canberra will commemorate the service and sacrifice of Picton resident Second Lieutenant Mervyn Ray Tickner DCM at the Last Post Ceremony on Wednesday 21 May 2025.
"Ray Tickner was born in Picton, NSW on 22 July 1894, one of nine children born to John and Alice Tickner," Australian War Memorial historian Michael Kelly said.
"After leaving school, he became a clerk for the Goulburn Railway Department and joined the local Milita unit."
On 24 September 1914, Tickner enlisted in the First Australian Imperial Force (AIF) at Townsville and was assigned to A Company of the 15th Battalion.
The 15th Battalion began landing at Gallipoli on the afternoon of 25 April 2015.
Tickner was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal for a raid against Ottoman trenches on the night of 9/10 May. He was wounded in the head a few days later, and hospitalised in Egypt. Tickner was shipped home to Australia, where he was promoted to sergeant, and helped to organise several recruiting drives, including the Warathas and North Coasters marches.
After being discharged from the AIF on 3 March 1916, Tickner re-enlisted in late March and went into camp at Goulburn.
On 8 February 1917, he embarked for England where he spent two months before being sent to France on 14 June.
On 20 September 1917, Tickner led his platoon in what would become known as the Battle of Menin Road. Later that day, while establishing a strong post at Polygon Wood with 11 remaining members of his platoon, Tickner was killed instantly, struck by shrapnel from a German shell. He was 23 years old.
Second Lieutenant Mervyn Ray Tickner DCM was survived by his wife Eugenie and their infant son, Raymond.
The Last Post ceremony is held at 4.30 pm every day except Christmas Day in the Commemorative area of the Australian War Memorial.
Each ceremony shares the story behind one of 103,000 names on the Roll of Honour. To date, the Memorial has delivered more than 4,100 ceremonies, each featuring an individual story of service from colonial to recent conflicts. It would take more than 280 years to read the story behind each of the 103,000 names listed on the Roll of Honour.
"The Last Post Ceremony is our commitment to remembering and honouring the legacy of Australian service," Memorial Director Matt Anderson said.
"Through our daily Last Post Ceremony, we not only acknowledge where and how these men and women died. We also tell the stories of who they were when they were alive, and of the families who loved and, in so many cases, still mourn for them.
"The Last Post is now associated with remembrance but originally it was a bugle call to sound the end of the day's activities in the military. It is a fitting way to end each day at the Memorial."
The Last Post Ceremony honouring the service of Second Lieutenant Mervyn Ray Tickner DCM will be live streamed to the Australian War Memorial's YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/c/awmlastpost.
The stories told at the Last Post Ceremony are researched and written by the Memorial's military historians, who begin the process by looking at nominal rolls, attestation papers and enlistment records before building profiles that include personal milestones and military experiences.
HANDOUT imagery:
https://vwma.org.au/explore/people/254223
https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C952074
https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C1005003
