Private Henry Pearce, a witness to the attack, would later testify that, “the shelling was too bad to move them that night”. The next day, the stretcher bearers were instructed to take Longstaff and Hall the five miles back to the Belgium Battery Corner Cemetery, close by to the 1^st Pioneer Battalion Headquarters, where they were then buried.

Ernest knew this area well. Belgium Chateau and Marquise Camp are only three hundred yards away. He would have walked past his own final resting place on numerous occasions.

The carpenters from the 1^st Pioneers made timber crosses, engraving the name, rank, serial number, and date of death upon them.

On the 23^rd October, almost three weeks after his death, a telegram informing Ernest’s parents of their son’s fate would arrive at the family home in Beech Forest. It was hand delivered by the local priest.

In February of 1918, Ernest’s father was granted a pension from the Commonwealth of Australia in consideration of his son’s death. He was awarded thirty shillings per fortnight. Ernest’s mother had her pension claim rejected: “Not dependent”.

On the 1^st anniversary of his death, 4^th October 1918, a parcel containing some of his personal effects, including a lock of hair and a damaged La Fidèle fob watch, arrived at Cloverdale farm. His mother signed for the delivery.

The casualty numbers for The Battle of Broodseinde are unimaginable. In a single day over twenty thousand allies fell, including 6,423 Australians and 1,853 New Zealanders. The majority are interred at Tyne Cot Cemetery, located near Zonnebeke in Belgium. It is the largest cemetery for Commonwealth forces in the world.

But it wasn’t just the Allies that suffered. The Germans took an estimated 35,000 causalities.

Only two soldiers from the 1^st Australian Pioneer Battalion were taken back from the Battle of Broodseinde to the Belgium Battery Corner Cemetery, Privates Longstaff and Hall.