GIDDINGS, Oliver Thomas
| Service Number: | 1333 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 29 August 1914, An original member of G Company |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 3rd Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Geurie, New South Wales, Australia, 17 January 1893 |
| Home Town: | Artarmon, Willoughby, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Geurie Public School, New South Wales, Australia |
| Occupation: | Labourer |
| Died: | Killed in action, Mouquet Farm, France, 18 August 1916, aged 23 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, Picardie, France |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Geurie Honour Roll, Wellington Cenotaph, Wellington Hall of Memory Honour Roll, Wellington St. John The Baptist Church Great War Honour Roll |
World War 1 Service
| 29 Aug 1914: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 1333, 3rd Infantry Battalion, An original member of G Company | |
|---|---|---|
| 20 Oct 1914: | Involvement Private, 1333, 3rd Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '7' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Euripides embarkation_ship_number: A14 public_note: '' | |
| 20 Oct 1914: | Embarked Private, 1333, 3rd Infantry Battalion, HMAT Euripides, Sydney |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Stephen Brooks
Oliver Thomas Giddings was known as ‘Ollie’ to his family and friends. He was the son of Thomas and Emma Giddings, of Geurie, New South Wales.
His younger brother, 1736 Pte. Charles Robert Giddings, 1st Machine Gun Company died of wounds in France on 21 November 1916, aged just 19 years.
Oliver was an original member of the 3rd Battalion, leaving Australia in 1914 and was present at the Anzac Landing on 25 April 1915. He was shot in the left elbow on 7 May 1915 and evacuated to Egypt. He returned to his unit on Gallipoli during June 1915 but was evacuated sick.
After going to the Western Front, he was killed in action during the very heavy fighting to take Mouquet Farm during late August 1916. He was in a Lewis Gun section and was seen by several of his mates to have been caught by a shell in the trenches near Mouquet Farm and completely buried. His remains were buried close to where he died but were subsequently lost.
The Wellington Independent reported his death on 29 September 1916, “News, however, reached Geurie a few days ago that Private Ollie Giddings, son of Mr. and Mrs. T. Giddings, of “Gentle Rise,” Geurie, had been killed in action in France. Private Giddings was a native of Geurie, and was amongst the first batch from the district to enlist. He served throughout the greater part of the Gallipoli campaign, but before the evacuation was badly wounded. Recovering from his wounds, he rejoined, and went to France with the first batch of Australians. There is no more generous or popular man in the district than the deceased soldier's dad. Of his three sons he has given two to serve their country.”
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