DREDGE, Oliver
| Service Number: | 872 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 29 March 1915 |
| Last Rank: | Driver |
| Last Unit: | 5th Divisional Train |
| Born: | Fitzroy, Victoria, Australia, 14 April 1881 |
| Home Town: | Port Melbourne, Port Phillip, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Driver |
| Died: | Tuberculosis, Caulfield Repatriation Hospital, Victoria, Australia, 21 June 1945, aged 64 years |
| Cemetery: |
Fawkner Memorial Park Cemetery, Victoria |
| Memorials: |
World War 1 Service
| 29 Mar 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Driver, 872, 24th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 8 Feb 1916: | Embarked Private, 872, 24th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Warilda, Melbourne | |
| 8 Feb 1916: | Involvement Private, 872, 24th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '14' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Warilda embarkation_ship_number: A69 public_note: '' | |
| 20 Apr 1916: | Transferred AIF WW1, 60th Infantry Battalion, Driver | |
| 25 Sep 1918: | Transferred AIF WW1, 59th Infantry Battalion | |
| 12 Nov 1918: | Transferred AIF WW1, 5th Divisional Train | |
| 22 Jun 1919: | Discharged AIF WW1, Driver, 872, 5th Divisional Train |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Alison Dredge
Prior to enlistment, Oliver worked as a horse driver at Newport Quarry.
He was 33 years old when he enlisted, married to Jane Dredge (nee Simpkins), and living in Brunswick with their six children, all under 10 years old.
Oliver became ill shortly after arriving in Eygpt in 1915 and returned to Australia to convalesce. On his return to Egypt in April 1916, he was assigned to the 60th Battalion and arrived in France in June 1916.
His first engagement was the Battle of Fromelles. Oliver spent the next two years on the western front with the 60th Battalion. He was a horse driver, mainly with the artillery to bring up the ammunition to the front.
After the war, Oliver returned to carting stone at Newport Quarry for a time. He was diagnosed with tuberculosis in 1938 and died in 1945.
Son of Joseph and Mary. Husband to Jane. Father to Ernie, Bill, Harry, James, Rene, Arthur, and Hazel.
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