Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

George Douglas Bolton was born in 1898 in Scone in the state of New South Wales in Australia, to parents George Henry Bolton and Catherine Charlotte Bolton (formerly Douglas).(1) Bolton was raised in a rural area before he shifted to the sub-urban area of Sydney to join Sydney Technical High School. After his education, he went to work as a bank clerk and he worked for this profession while residing at ‘Glenrock,’ Hewlett Street, Waverley.(2)

During the war, Bolton’s life took a significant turn.  He enrolled for the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) on the 14th April 1917, at Bondi Junction, as the Private 3590 of the 1st Light Horse Regiment. Bolton embarked November 2, 1917 through the HMAT Commonwealth from Melbourne and arrived in the Middle East in December 1917.

George Bolton served in the First Light Horse Regiment at the Sinai and Palestine Campaign.  Bolton fought in the August Offensive, Romani, Magdhaba, and the Gaza battles.(4) Some of his main activities were the thunderous charges at Beersheba as well as remarkable operations of the Es Salt raid and the first Amman raid. Trooper Ernest Craggs of the 12th Light Horse Regiment, aged 19, was killed during the charge at Beersheba. In a letter to Craggs' mother, his commanding officer Lieutenant Edward Ralston wrote: “the day before the fight, he was laughing and joking as usual and full of spirit all through the long night ride. He rode into action just behind me and the last I saw of him, he was standing in his stirrups and cheering.” This is just the brink of what we can understand what Bolton had to go through during the war.

The demanding environment of the Middle Eastern theatre had a visible impact on George Bolton’s health. Similar to many soldiers, the difficulties he experienced included exposure to harsh climate, scarcity of essential food and clothing and ever present danger of being attacked by the enemy. He suffered from malaria, which represented a standard recurrent disease among the soldiers in the area.(5) Bolton entered the hospital on May 5, 1918 and was diagnosed to have malaria at the 44th Field Hospital. His health complications called for more specialised attention, and he was moved to other health institutions.

After returning to Australia on March 13, 1919, Bolton was discharged from military service. His post-war life saw him resume his career as a bank clerk.(6) He married twice: first to Hannah Adelaide C. Green, who passed away, and then to Lela Beryl White. 

George Bolton died at age forty seven years on the twenty first of September in the year 1945.

References

(1) Virtual War memorial

(2)National archives of Australia record search

(3)National archives of Australia pdf file

(4)Australian War memorial

(5)National archives of Australia pdf file

(6)George Douglan Bolton Google drive, google doc

Bibliography

Ken Stevenson, Research on Google Drive
Virtual War Memorial Australia: 
https://vwma.org.au/explore/people/334663   

National Archives Australia:
https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/DetailsReports/ItemDetail.aspx?Barcode=3096551&isAv=N 

Australian Anzac Portal 
https://anzacportal.dva.gov.au/wars-and-missions/ww1/military-organisation/australian-imperial-force/australian-light-horse   

Australian War Memorial:
https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/R2022244   

https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/U51035  

https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P10702596   

Battle of Beersheba
https://www.abc.net.au/ww1-anzac/beersheba/story-of-the-day/#:~:text=Despite%20outnumbering%20the%20Ottoman%20garrison,survived%20a%20more%20protracted%20fight.