Pozieres remembered 100 years on

One hundred years ago on Saturday, Australian troops launched a slogging bloody campaign which in seven weeks claimed almost as many lives as eight-months on Gallipoli.

The Battle of Pozieres will be marked by a service on the battlefield in France and by a special Last Post ceremony at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra that commemorates the life of Captain Ivor Margetts.

Born in Tasmania, Margetts served with distinction throughout the Gallipoli campaign, gaining a reputation as an outstanding soldier.

His 12th Battalion participated in the successful occupation of the village of Pozieres on the opening of the battle on July 23, 1916.

The next night, Margetts was leading his men to new forward positions when he was struck by a fragment from an exploding German shell and died within minutes. He was 24.

He was buried in a nearby shell hole and in the ensuing fighting his grave marker was lost and he has no known resting place.