OLLEY, Laurence
| Service Number: | 1741 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 22 May 1915, Enlisted at Liverpool. |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 18th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Tothills Belt, South Australia, Australia., 12 July 1882 |
| Home Town: | Darlinghurst, City of Sydney, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Tram Conductor |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Belgium, 20 September 1917, aged 35 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Menin Gate Memorial, Ypres, Flanders, Belgium |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Haymarket NSW Government Railway and Tramway Honour Board, Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 22 May 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 1741, 18th Infantry Battalion, Enlisted at Liverpool. | |
|---|---|---|
| 19 Jun 1915: | Involvement Private, 1741, 18th Infantry Battalion, Third Ypres, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '12' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Kanowna embarkation_ship_number: A61 public_note: '' | |
| 19 Jun 1915: | Embarked Private, 1741, 18th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Kanowna, Sydney |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by John Oakes
Lawrence OLLEY (Service Number 1741) was born on 12th July 1882 at Tothills Belt, South Australia. He first worked for the NSW Tramways as a casual conductor in Sydney from 7th April 1911. In February 1912 his position was made permanent, but he resigned in July. He was re-employed from 14th February 1913 and remained in this position until he was released from duty to join the Expeditionary Forces on 18th May 1915.
Olley enlisted at Liverpool four days later, giving his aunt, Mrs Chapman, living in Darlinghurst as his next of kin. He was allotted to the 2nd Reinforcements to the 18th Battalion. He embarked HMAT ‘Kanowna’ at Sydney on 19th June 1915, only a month after enlisting. By 16th August he was proceeding to join the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force on Gallipoli. Only four days later he was wounded with a bomb wound to his face and was transferred through the 5th Field Ambulance, the 2nd Casualty Clearing Station and the Hospital Ship ‘Devanha’ to St George’s Hospital on Malta. He left Malta via Ghain Tuffieha for Mudros (on the Greek island of Lemnos.
By the end of December Olley was in Egypt and in March embarked at Alexandria for passage through Marseilles to France and the British Expeditionary Force on the Western Front.
In July he was again wounded, now to the scalp, and this led to a succession of admissions to the 1st Field Ambulance, the 44th Casualty Clearing Station, Ambulance Train No. 16, 23rd General Hospital at Etaples and the Hospital Ship ‘Dieppe’ to the De Waldon Court Hospital in England. By this time the wound was described as a gunshot wound to head, left shoulder and left hand (slight). By the time he reached England it was 11th August 1917. The wounds must have indeed been slight for by the end of the month he was proceeding overseas to France again and re-joined his Battalion on 9th September.
He was killed in action on 20th September 1917 in Belgium. Cpl D W Meldrum reported:
‘He and I were in a shell hole in No Man’s Land with a Lewis Gun, covering our own party while they were consolidating on the 20th September just in front of Anzac House. Olley was shot clear through the forehead by a sniper. I helped bury him close to where he fell on the night of 21st September. The grave was not marked at the time and we have not been back to the position since.’
Unsurprisingly therefore, Olley has no known grave and is remembered on the Menin Gate Memorial at Ypres, Belgium.
The only blood relative who could be located, after some time and effort, was his sister who lived in Paddington, and it was to her that his medals were disposed.
- based on the Australian War Memorial Honour Roll and notes for the Great Sydney Central Station Honour Board.