Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

William Roy Olive was born in approximately November 1894 in Moonta, South Australia. He was raised by his mother, Pricilla Olive, and grew up as a Methodist, which could have been influenced by his mother’s beliefs. As an adult, he was single and worked as a blacksmith. Being a blacksmith was a hard and demanding job, needing muscular strength and hand-eye coordination. This made William Roy Olive a prime candidate for World War 1, as he was physically fit and had already had experience with weapons due to his background as a blacksmith. As a blacksmith, he could have made tools for the workers in Moonta Mines, which is where he lived with his mother. He was 5’ 5, weighed 126lb (57kg), had brown hair, a medium complexion and had full eyesight. Prior to joining World War 1, he was part of the 81st Senior Cadets for three years. This shows that William has had previous experience with weapons and that he might be more disciplined than other World War 1 soldiers and may have acted as a leader or a role model for other soldiers during World War 1. William Roy Olive joined the Senior cadets at the age of 18 and then enlisted for World War 1 when he was 21.

William Roy Olive began his training with the 2nd Training Depot and preparing for war for two months prior to joining the 43rd Battalion on the 7th of March. William was most likely part of the basic training, which consisted of physical fitness, discipline training, and learning how to use their weapons. Because of William Roy Olive’s prior war experience with the 81st Senior Cadets, he may have moved past the basic training and continued onto more advanced training soon after beginning with the 2nd training depot instead.

When William joined the 43rd Battalion on the 7th of March 1916, he left South Australia on board the HMAT 19 Afric to France on the 9th of June 1916 with the 43rd Infantry Battalion. William was promoted to Lance Corporal sometime on 14 October 1917.

William Roy Olive’s most recent offence was being absent without leave on the 10th of July 1916. This occurred from 10 pm to 6:30 am. There are also five other offences of the same calibre in previous months on the 20th of February 22nd and 27th of May, and the 23rd and 28th of March. This was only a couple of months after enlisting, which could mean that he is finding war more punishing and harder than he thought and wanted to go somewhere to find some sort of relief, most likely with his friends in his battalion to relieve of some of his stress from the war and possibly consuming alcohol. He may have thought that WW1 was not going to be as stressful as he thought and has disappeared for the night to blow off some steam. You do not see any more offences past the 28th of May 1916, which was his first year as a soldier, so he was still relatively new to this war. Before WWI, he served with the 81st Senior Cadets and could have had previous experience with being in this sort of environment, which might show why he did not commit as many offences as other soldiers in his rank and stopped committing these offences after the 10th of July 1916.

On the 16th of September 1916, William went overseas to France to be transferred to the 10th Battalion. On the 2nd of October of the same year, he met the 10th Battalion. On May 6th, 1917 William Roy Olive was wounded in action and was admitted to the 5th Field Ambulance with a shrapnel wound. One day later, he was transferred to the hospital, but was discharged a few days later. On the 28th of May, he was put back to duty and re-joined his battalion on the 29th after the better part of a month recuperating from his wound.

William joined brigade school in France from the 17th of October 1917 and then re-joined his battalion on the 6th of December 1917.

On the 18th of July 1919, William Roy Olive left France on the H.T ‘Takado’ to go to Australia. On the 4th of September 1919, he disembarked at Adelaide and was discharged on the 19th of October 1919.

In 1918, William’s mother, Pricilla Olive, sent multiple letters to William’s officer in charge regarding the welfare of her son, and asking if she can ‘cable through’ to William. The commanding officer replies and allows her to do so. She also asks about ‘Saturday night’s newspaper’, as it says that ‘F.R.Olive’ was rewarded for a bravery medal. She inquiries about this as her son’s initials are W.R.Olive. She is hoping that the medal for bravery was to her son, William and that it was just a spelling error, as she says that William’s initials are very rare and she has never seen them before, other than in her own family. She may be anxious because she has not heard from her son in a while and is wondering if he is alright and that he is still alive, or she is worried that another member of her family might be over in the war that she does not know about. The commanding officer stated that there is an F. R. Olive, who is in the 4th Machine Gun Battalion. He also says that he is not sure whether the press referred to W. R. Olive or to F. R. Olive.

These letters shows that Pricilla Olive loved her son as she is asking about William’s welfare first on every letter she sends. William, however, may not have had the same connection as his mother had for him, although this is very unlikely judging by the openness in Pricilla’s letters. William was indeed recommended for the Military Medal due to his actions on 12 August 1918, although he did not receive it. The recommendation reads "For skill and daring while in charge of a lewis gun in operations near LIHONS on 12th. August. Making full use of ground he made his way forward and brought oblique fire on to two enemy machine guns which were holding up our advance, and put the gunners out of action. He displayed at all times an utter disregard for his personal safety and set a fine example to his section."

After the war, it is not certain what William Roy Olive did, but it can be assumed that he went back to Moonta Mines to his mother, as they were close judging by the letters that she sent after him throughout the war. William lived until the 1st October 1972, and his name can be found on the Moonta Mines Public School Roll of Honour WW1. William Roy Olive Received two medals, as he was not eligible for the 1914/1915-star medal as he joined in 1916, but he did receive the British war medal and the Victory medal after he was discharged.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

“Joining up - Training • Training Men to Be Soldiers in the First World War • MyLearning.” www.mylearning.org, www.mylearning.org/stories/training-men-to-be-soldiers-in-the-first-world-war/768?#:~:text=Ordinary%20soldiers%20began%20their%20training. Accessed 24 Mar. 2021.

UNSW Australia. “The AIF Project.” Adfa.edu.au, 2016, www.aif.adfa.edu.au/search. Accessed 28 Mar. 2021.

“| the Australian War Memorial.” Www.awm.gov.au, 2021, www.awm.gov.au/advanced-search/people. Accessed 31 Mar. 2021.

“Australian Imperial Force Unit War Diaries, 1914-18 War.” Awm.gov.au, Australian War Memorial, 2021, www.awm.gov.au/collection/AWM4/. Accessed 31 Mar. 2021.

“Moonta Mines Public School Roll of Honour WW1.” Https://Vwma.org.au, Virtual War Memorial. Accessed 31 Mar. 2021.