Cecil Lancelot Lake
Stephen LearmonthCecil was born on the 11th of February, 1888, at Yackandandah in Victoria. He was the eldest of four children to John and Wilhemina Charlotte (née Dyring) Lake. When Cecil was six his younger sister, Marion, passed away at the age of two. On the 26th of April, 1906, tragedy struck the family again when John died at the age of 47.
The Australian Electoral Rolls of 1909 show that the family had moved to Foster in Gippsland. Wilhelmina had become a licenced hotel keeper of the Exchange Hotel. After attending Scotch College in Melbourne in 1906, he took up employment as a driver while helping his mother to manage the hotel.
Cecil enlisted at the age of 28 on the 6th of December, 1915 at the Melbourne Town Hall. He was allocated the Regimental Number of 1712 and assigned to the 2nd Reinforcements of the 58th Battalion. After some initial training he embarked on HMAT Euripides on the 4th of April, 1916. Upon arriving in Egypt he was assigned to the 59th Battalion, which was billeted at Ferry Post. A little over three weeks later the battalion boarded the troopship Kinfauns Castle and headed to France. He was taken on strength with the 58th Battalion on the Western Front at the end of June where they were preparing for their first major action at the battle of Fromelles.
The battalion was tasked with attacking the German front line surrounding the Sugar Loaf salient. This heavily manned bulge in the line extended out into no mans’ land, offering the Germans a position from which it could fire at advancing troops from multiple directions. The Allies had been bombarding the enemy lines for three days prior to the infantry going over the top. Although thy were confident that the enemy had suffered severe casualties during the bombardment, it had only served as a warning to Germans. Upon the lifting of the barrage, the German troops rushed out from their deep undergound shelters and set up their machine-guns.
Instead of a gentle walk over no-man’s land, the attacking Australians experienced a relentless hail of machine-gun fire. Several waves of advancing troops were decimated. Even though the 59th Battalion did not capture their objectives, other attacking troops reached the German fron lines. Overcome by the tenacity of the German troops, the Australians were forced to retire back to their original lines. In one night, Australian casualties stood at 5533 killed, missing or wounded. It was to become the worst 24 hours in Australian history, with more casualties than in the Boer, Korean and Vietnam wars combined.
One of those missing was Private Cecil Lake. None of his comrades saw him after jumping the parapet on the 19th of July. his body was never recovered and, after August 1916, he was declared as being killed in action.
The 8th of September edition of the South Gippsland Shire Echo announced the sad news of Cecil’s passing to the local community.
“On Moday to the Rev. A.J. Smith fell the unwelcome task of informing Mrs. Lake, of the Exchange Hotel, Foster, that her son, Cecil, had been killed in action on the 19th of July, in France. The news came as a severe blow to the stricken mother, for his last letter came from Egypt, where he thought he would be remaining for some time. “Ces,” who was 27 at the time of his death, was born at Mitta Mitta, but has been in Foster for many years, and was widely known throughout the district. He was a grandson of Mrs. Geo. Rolfe, of “Tenterden,” Collins Street, Melbourne. Last December he enlisted and went into camp on the 4th January, joining the 2nd Reinforcements of the 58th Battalion. Heartfelt sympathy has been tendered to his bereaved mother and relatives in the sad loss they have sustained by the sudden ending of a young life whose sacrifice, we earnestly trust, will not be in vain.”
Cecil has no known grave. He is remembered on the Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, the Foster Christ Church Roll of Honour, the Foster Honour Roll and the V.C. Corner Australian Cemetery. For his service during the First World War, he was awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.