BOLDER, Alfred Vincent
| Service Number: | 3490 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 29 July 1915 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 3rd Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Leeds, Yorkshire, England, 1887 |
| Home Town: | Gilgandra, Gilgandra, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Farmer |
| Died: | Cessnock, New South Wales, Australia, 22 June 1968, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Newcastle Memorial Park (fmly Beresfield Crematorium) |
| Memorials: | Ballarat Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial, Gilgandra District Roll of Honor |
World War 1 Service
| 29 Jul 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 3490, 3rd Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 2 Nov 1915: | Involvement Private, 3490, 3rd Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '7' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Euripides embarkation_ship_number: A14 public_note: '' | |
| 2 Nov 1915: | Embarked Private, 3490, 3rd Infantry Battalion, HMAT Euripides, Sydney | |
| 20 Jul 1916: | Imprisoned Fromelles (Fleurbaix) |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Stephen Brooks
Alfred Bolder was a 28-year-old farmer, when he enlisted with his brother Horace. Alfred had sailed from London to Australia in 1911, following his brother, and both were working around Gilgandra NSW. Their mother Amelia lived at 9 DeGray Terrace, Woodhouse Lane, Leeds, England, their father having died in 1914. Alfred was captured at Fromelles when he and other survivors had been fought to a standstill in the German trenches by the morning of 20 July 1916. He was captured and repatriated with his brother, and returned to Australia 2 March 1919.
In a report on their capture, the brothers stated "We were taken to Lille citadel where we spent four days. Here we were robbed of anything of value we possessed. On July 24, 1916 we were packed into horse trucks at the railway station and taken to Dulmen in Germany." In September 1916, they were transferred to Schneidemuhl where they remained until the Armistice was signed. The brothers further reported "The day after the Armistice was signed, we escaped from our Commando and crossed the German Poland frontier into Russian Poland on November 14, 1918. We arrived in Warsaw 24 hours after the Germans evacuated it. We travelled by train from Warsaw through Galitia and Austria to Buda Pesth [Budapest] where we remained for a fortnight. Then we went to Vienna where we boarded a special train for English people and came through Switzerland to Lyons (St. Germain). We arrived in Calais on December 17, and sailed for Dover on December 19, 1918."