BOLITHO, Arthur
| Service Number: | 773 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 18 August 1914 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 7th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Bendigo, Victoria, Australia, January 1891 |
| Home Town: | Quarry Hill, Greater Bendigo, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Carter |
| Died: | Bendigo, Victoria, Australia, 18 September 1971, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Eaglehawk Cemetery, Victoria |
| Memorials: | Bendigo Great War Roll of Honor |
World War 1 Service
| 18 Aug 1914: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 773, 7th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 19 Oct 1914: | Involvement Private, 773, 7th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '9' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Hororata embarkation_ship_number: A20 public_note: '' | |
| 19 Oct 1914: | Embarked Private, 773, 7th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Hororata, Melbourne | |
| 25 Apr 1915: | Wounded AIF WW1, Private, 773, 7th Infantry Battalion, ANZAC / Gallipoli, Wounded at the Gallipoli landings, GSW to side, shoulder, chest and lung. Embarked for Australia 7 November 1915. | |
| 5 May 1916: | Discharged AIF WW1, Private, 773, 7th Infantry Battalion, Medically unfit due to GSW sustained. |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Larna Malone
Arthur Bolitho was born in Bendigo, the son of Mrs. E Bolitho of 167 Gladstone Street, Quarry Hill. He was 23 years & 7 months old, and worked as a Carter, employed by Messrs H. M. Leggo and Co. He had previous military service with 2nd 8th AIR Bendigo. He was amongst the early volunteers for the Expeditionary Force, enlisting on 18.8.14. The following day he left Bendigo for the Broadmeadows Camp. He was allotted Service no. 773 and appointed to ‘G’ Company, 7th Battalion.
Arthur Bolitho was in a tent of 10 men, who called themselves “The Boobaroos”. One of the men, Charles “Ky’ Curtayne, wrote frequently to the Bendigo newspapers with updates of their activities. In some of the letters Curtayne used a nickname for Arthur, referring to him as “Bumble Bolitho’.
Prior to embarkation Arthur was Presented with a Shaving outfit by the Employes of Messrs H. M. Leggo and Co. and Presented with an inscribed silver badge, a pocket wallet, and pair of scissors by the Bendigo branch of the Carters and Drivers’ Union.
The 7th Battalion left Broadmeadows Camp on 18 October, 1914, and embarked for service overseas on board HMAT ‘Hororata’. Arriving in Egypt the battalion moved into camp at Mena, at the foot of the pyramids. (6/12/14)
In January, 1915, the Australian force was re-organized. In the 7th Battalion ‘G’ and ‘H’ Companies joined to form the new ‘D’ Company. This meant that all the men from Northern Victoria were together in one Company.
The 7th Battalion was part of the force which landed at Anzac Cove on 25th April, 1915.
Arthur Bolitho was Wounded during the Landing, sustaining Gunshot wounds to his side, shoulder and chest. The latter wound affected his Lung.
In a Letter home Arthur wrote: “We had driven the Turks back three miles and had followed them up when I ‘stopped one’. I was lying behind a small bush when I got hit in the side, close to the arm, and the bullet stopped lower down in my ribs. I was going back to better cover to get the wound dressed when I had a ‘daylight hole’ bored through me, the bullet going in my back below the left shoulder and coming out near the shoulder blade.” [Bendigonian September 2, 1915]
He RTA M.U. 7/11/15
Arthur Bolitho attended the Civic Reception (i.e. “welcome home”) held on Tuesday 31 March, 1916, in the Bendigo Town Hall.
“The First Lot. 7th Battalion. The first men of the Bendigo district to volunteer for service in the First World War.”: Larna Malone
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