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Australia

Born in Cork City, Ireland on the 12th January, 1921, John then travelled to Australia, arriving in 1938 as a young 17-year-old. With a quite extensive railway system, John arrived in Peterborough (originally named Petersburg until 1918) where there was both an Irish presence and resultantly a strong Catholic population. Peterborough was also a hugely important railway hub linking rail transport from the north, south, east and west, the main being with ore from Broken Hill to the Port Pirie smelters. Prior to the outbreak of WWII John was working at the Federal Hotel as a labourer. At that time there were many elegant hotels along the main road through the town.
With the outbreak of WWII a huge drive was conducted by the army in country areas attempting to encourage fit, young, single men to sign up. As an 18-year-old, John enlisted five months before his birthday, becoming SX7675. Fellow Peterborough man, George Dickinson also enlisted at the same time becoming SX7649. John nominated his father, Thomas who still resided in Ireland as his next of kin. Early days were spent in the pavilions at the current Royal Adelaide Showgrounds, before John and other new enlistees continued their training at Woodside in the Adelaide hills. During brief pre-embarkation leave John returned to Peterborough. He was first farewelled in the magnificent Town Hall. The evening commenced with the National Anthem, followed by popular tunes from the Town Orchestra and several solo songs, including the very British "Till the Lights of London Shine Again." An eulogistic speech by the Mayor followed, where he stated that the enlistees “are going to honor Australia by their actions is certain, and we hope they will, if possible exceed the deeds of valour accomplished by the men of the first A.I.F. These young men will probably be sailing away from our shores, and I know it is the hope and desire of everyone that they will have God Speed and a safe return. If that, is accomplished we will have no fear that these young men will come back after victory has been won, crowned with deeds of valour, and I trust we will have the honor of assembling here again to welcome them back.” Of the ten men farewelled five were in John’s 2/48th Battalion. They were Walter Faulkner SX5150, George Henry Dickinson SX7649, John SX7675, William Snider SX8178 and Alex. Harding, SX8454. Of these, George Dickinson and Alex Harding would be killed in action and not return.
The young men were presented with a parcel from the Ladies' Parcels Committee, followed by the singing of the Song of Australia and dancing which continued until midnight.
On Sunday, the Committee of the Catholic Soldiers' Guild Auxiliary conducted a concert in the St. Anacletus' Hall at which the President of the Catholic Soldiers' Farewell Committee made a presentation to Private Dolan. Mention was made that despite John having only been a member of the parish for a short time, and marginally longer in Australia, by him wearing the uniform of an Australian soldier merited him being called by the highest praise – a ‘dinkum Aussie’. A presentation was made to the accompaniment of generous praise. John responded with thanks, including to the Catholic people for their interest and kindness during his stay in Peterborough.
John boarded the Stratheden on the 7th November ’40, arriving in the Middle East on the 17th December when he was officially allocated to the newly formed 2/48th Battalion. Training in Cyrenaica followed before the battalion headed to Tobruk where the heat, flies, dust and minimal water supplies, plus constant bombardment became part of their daily lives. John’s Peterborough friend, 23-year-old George Dickinson was killed on April ‘41when a mortar hit Company headquarters.
A year later, John went absent for a day but was penalised with a full 12 days of being confined to barracks, as well as receiving a fine. That April, he received second degree burns to his body, face and arms in an unfortunate accident, spending several weeks being treated. The injury was deemed not to warrant an Inquiry. Just three months later, 25-year-old Corporal Arthur Harding, the Peterborough hairdresser died of wounds he received in July ’42. By February the following year the2/48th were on their way home, via Melbourne.
Training in Queensland followed, before John left Cairns for Milne Bay where he went AWOL for a week. He soon contracted a series of health symptoms including a high temperature (Pyrexia of unknown Origin) and acute ear pain (mastoiditis) a Vitamin B deficiency, malaria and dermatitis. Inevitably, he returned to Townsville early in March ’44.
The following month, the Chronicle carried an announcement ‘DOLAN—O'TOOLE.—Marriage of Monica May, only child of Mr. and Mrs. E. G. O'Toole, Kilkenny, to Pte. John J. Dolan (A.I.F.), eldest son of Mr.-Mrs. T. Dolan, Cork, Ireland, was solemnised at St. Francis Xavier's Cathedral, Adelaide, April 22.’ Not unexpectedly, John was found Absent Without Leave the following day and was apprehended on the 26th. Wanting time with his new wife, within a week John again went AWOL, forfeiting over a fortnight’s pay. This escalated to him being charged with an Illegal absence from 27th May ’44 to 21st June.
It was a challenging time for the newly wed couple with John being held at the Keswick Barracks, sentenced to 60 days detention and forfeiting over a month’s pay. To add to the challenges, he was again diagnosed with malaria. He returned to Queensland where the 2/48th Battalion soon left Cairns for Morotai in April ’45 and thence to Tarakan before eventually returning to Brisbane in September.
John was eventually discharged on the 28 Sept ’45, with he and Monica having a son, Patrick. Unfortunately, less than two years later John was granted his divorce. He married Esme Margaret Burgess on the 28th June, ’47, a marriage that would last their lifetime. Again, relying on the railways, the two travelled to Broken Hill where Esme’s mother lived and where John found shift work. Post war, accommodation was scarce with John and Esme with their two children, Brian and John, (named after his father), aged two and three living in a small one-room house. This made afternoon sleeping prior to a shift extremely challenging. John described the house as being ‘one room 12 ½ ft. by 11 ft in which he and his family lived. They had a bedroom suite, two cots and a spare loughboy in the room, and there was very little space to move around in.’ He had tried to get other accommodation but had no prospects of obtaining any.
The house next door had been vacant, but for sale, for cash, which John had initially hoped to purchase as a returned serviceman. He had immediately and urgently made an application for tenancy under the War Service Homes Act. When the case went to Court to be resolved in ‘52, John explained he was a returned AIF serviceman and had his discharge papers.
Eventually John returned to the Adelaide area where he lived at Elizabeth North, before moving to Victoria with his wife. He died two weeks after his 61st birthday on the 26th January 1982 and is remembered in the Victorian Garden of Remembrance at Springvale. Four years later, John’s sister, Maureen who still lived in Ireland, made an unsuccessful attempt to track John down, having had no contact for over fourteen years.
In later years, John’s ashes were passed firstly to his son, John and then to his grandson, also named John.
Researched and written by Kaye Lee, daughter of Bryan Holmes SX8133, 2/48th Battalion.

My grandfather passed away when I was 11, I do still remember him sitting in his chair, rolled cigarette in one hand and a bottle of beer on the table next to him. We also gifted him a puppy, male terrier name Tiger……..Pop loved him very much.
I remember the day he passed, 26th of January, hard to forget that…….