Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Son of Edward and Janet Watt Tolman, of 175, Davey St., Hobart, Tasmania.

From François Berthout

Pte 2511 Owen Stanley Tolman,
26th Australian Infantry Battalion,
7th Brigade, 2nd Australian Division
 
The Somme, eternal shroud of remembrance, here over a hundred years ago, thousands of men fought and fell in what is their last resting place and shed their blood in the red poppies that grow in silence among the rows of their white graves and on the old battlefields that remind us of what a whole generation of young men did for us and for the freedom, the peace in which we live and for which in the trenches, through the barbed wire, they gave their youth, their today and their lives and today rest in peace in the white and peaceful cities through which the sun extends its rays on the names of these heroes who will live forever in the light and over whom we will always watch with respect, with love and gratitude so that the memories and the stories of these men never fade, we will be their guardians and they will be forever, our valiant Diggers, our sons, my boys of the Somme, my heroes.

Today, it is with very deep respect, with gratitude and with all my heart that I would like to honor the memory of one of these young men, one of my boys of the Somme who gave his today for our tomorrow. I would like to pay a very respectful tribute to Private number 2511 Owen Stanley Tolman who fought in the 26th Australian Infantry Battalion, 7th Brigade, 2nd Australian Division, and who died of his wounds 105 years ago, on August 10, 1916 at the age of 24 on the Somme front.

Owen Stanley Tolman was born in 1892 in Hobart, Tasmania, and was the son of Edward Kelly Tolman and Janet Tolman (née Watt), of 175 Davey Street, Hobart, then after his father's death lived at 7 Marine Terrace, Battery Point, Hobart. Owen had five sisters, Isabelle Anne, Janet, Dora, Rosamond March, Marjorie Victoria May and had five brothers, Arthur Tasman, Sydney, Mostyn Edward, George Henry and Hobart Oscar. Owen was educated at the Flowerpot Channel Public School, Tasmania and after graduation worked as a labourer.

Owen enlisted on July 21, 1915 at Claremont, Tasmania, in the 26th Australian Infantry Battalion which was raised at Enoggera, Queensland, in April 1915 from recruits enlisted in Queensland and Tasmania, and formed part of the 7th Brigade and after a period of training of three months, Owen embarked from Brisbane, Queensland, with the 5th Reinforcement, on board HMAT A69 Warilda on October 5, 1915 then sailed for Egypt.

On February 5, 1916, Owen arrived in Egypt and was disembarked at Tel-El-Kebir and was taken on strength then a month later, on March 15, he proceeded to join the BEF (British Expeditionary Force) in Alexandria and embarked the same day with his battalion then proceeded overseas for France and was disembarked on March 21 in Marseilles.

Owen's war was short and three months after arriving in Marseilles, he fought for the first time at Bois-Grenier where the 26th Australian Infantry Battalion mounted the first trench raid on the western front on June 6 then fought at Messines from July 1 to 26, 1916 and on July 28, 1916, was sent to the Somme, to Pozieres, which was the first major battle for the 26th Battalion but also for the AIF which lost 23,000 men in less than seven weeks of fighting that were among the most brutal and the deadliest on the entire Somme front.

Unfortunately, it was only a day later after reaching the Pozieres trenches that Owen met his fate and was wounded on July 29, 1916 by a gun shot wound in the abdomen and was immediately evacuated to the 3rd Casualty Clearing Station located at Puchevillers, located a few kilometers from Pozieres suffering from an abdominal penetrating wound but despite the greatest care, he died 12 days later, on August 10, 1916, he was 24 years old.

Today, Owen Stanley Tolman rests in peace with his friends, comrades and brothers in arms at Puchevillers British Cemetery, Somme, and his grave bears the following inscription "Dear Owen may we meet in the great hereafter.Your loving mother."

one of Owen's brothers, Private number 2920 Mostyn Edward Tolman also fought in the 26th Australian Infantry Battalion and survived the war, he returned to Australia on September 26, 1917 and died peacefully on May 18, 1936 at the age of 43 and rest in peace at Cornelian Bay Cemetery, Hobart, Tasmania.

Owen also had a nephew who fought bravely during the first world war, Private number 1514 Edward Tolman Domeney who served in the 12th Australian Infantry Battalion and returned to Australia on November 25, 1917. He died on August 27, 1961 and rests in peace in Cornelian Bay Crematorium.
Owen, you who gave your life when you were in the prime of your life, you fought with courage and determination under the Australian flag in the Somme alongside your French and British brothers in arms who served together on the lands of France which are today sacred grounds on which grow the roses and the poppies of remembrance, eternal symbols of the courage and the sacrifices of millions of men who here, fought and fell but who still stand proudly behind the shadows of their white tombs that stand under the sun, in an eternal light in which are remembered the names and the lives of a whole generation of young men who will never be forgotten and will be honored with tenderness, with the greatest care, with love and the deepest respect of the french people who will always be grateful and today, it is from the bottom of my heart that I would like to say thank you for everything you have done for us, p for the peace in which we have the privilege of living without being afraid of the next day, a peace in which I am privileged and proud to stand with respect in front of these young men and their graves to say thank you but also to share and tell their stories so that they could live forever beyond their names carved in stone.They were young, they were brave and all stepped forward to answer the call of duty and followed their hearts that guided them and under the Australian sun, through the streets of towns and villages they gathered in wearing the uniform with pride under the eyes full of tenderness and love of their families and their loved ones who saw them leave for the war without the certainty of seeing them again, so in a last embrace they said goodbye, not without tears but had their hearts filled with great pride because these young men were going to serve their country with love, they were going to fight with the deep desire to do their part in this great war and it is together that they embarked for France, to their fates, to their glory and walked side by side under the sound of boots and drums through the fields of poppies and saw, heard in the distance the lightning and the thunder of cannons, the fury of a world at war in which The they were going to fight but determined and ready to fight, they moved forward with their heads held high under their slouch hats and discovered the horror of the trenches, the apocalypse and the death that was the great war. In the cold, in the blood, they lived by digging in the mud in which they lived, a sticky and thick mud which they dragged like a burden under their boots and on their uniforms and which added on their shoulders the weight of the war but brave among the bravest they stood determined in this endless nightmare, for their friends and comrades who were by their side and who gave them the strength and courage to cross this hell of mud, blood and steel that were the battlefields on which nothing could survive under the fire of the machine guns which poured down rains of bullets at an infernal rate under which collapsed waves of brave men who charged the enemy trenches with their bayonets under the helpless eyes of their comrades who were waiting to go over the top a few moments later and who could not stop to help the wounded and who, with tears in their eyes, had to advance through the howls of their friends who lay unable to move in the mud, in the shell holes and in the barbed wire in which so many lives were shattered in assaults that ended in bloodbaths.United to each other they moved forward together despite the death that awaited them on no man's land and gave their all, did their duty with bravery and honor, they made their country proud of which they wrote the most glorious pages through their comradeship and their bravery, their mateship characterizes the Australian soldiers and just as they were over a hundred years ago, they will always be deeply admired and loved as our men, as our sons and over whom I will always watch so that their names, their faces, their stories will never be forgotten and I would give them my life so that theirs never cease to live in the light of Remembrance and in the friendship that unites Australia and France, Australia and the Somme, Australia for which we will always have the most deep love and admiration.Thank you so much Owen,for everything.At the going down of the sun and in the morning,we will remember him,we will remember them.