BOLDER, Horace Dudley
| Service Number: | 3489 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 29 July 1915 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 3rd Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Leeds, Yorkshire, England, 1889 |
| Home Town: | Gilgandra, Gilgandra, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Contractor |
| Died: | 6 May 1974, cause of death not yet discovered, place of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Port Macquarie General Cemetery |
| Memorials: | Ballarat Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial, Gilgandra District Roll of Honor |
World War 1 Service
| 29 Jul 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 3489, 3rd Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 2 Nov 1915: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 3489, 3rd Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '7' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Euripides embarkation_ship_number: A14 public_note: '' | |
| 2 Nov 1915: | Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 3489, 3rd Infantry Battalion, HMAT Euripides, Sydney | |
| 20 Jul 1916: | Imprisoned Fromelles (Fleurbaix) |
Help us honour Horace Dudley Bolder's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Stephen Brooks
Horace was a 26-year-old contractor, when he enlisted in October 1915. He had been born in Yorkshire and his mother Amelia still lived there. It seems he arrived in Sydney, Australia during 1911. His brother Alfred followed him out to Australia, and they were both were working around Gilgandra NSW. Their father died in England during 1914. Enlisting together, they embarked overseas in the 11th reinforcements of the 3rd Battalion during November 1915, and they both transferred to the 55th Battalion during February 1916, in Egypt. Horace was captured along with his brother, on 20 July 1916, in the German second line trench at Fromelles, as their orders were to hang on to this position at all costs. They held until about 8am on the 20 July 1916, until they were surrounded by the Germans. They had expended all their ammunition and bombs. They were also taken to Lille, where they spent 4 days, and were robbed of anything of value they possessed. Horace and Alfred arrived back in England on the 19 December 1918, and Horace returned to Australia 31 March 1919.
In a report on their capture, the brothers stated "We were taken to Lille citadel where we spent four days. Here we were robbed of anything of value we possessed. On July 24, 1916 we were packed into horse trucks at the railway station and taken to Dulmen in Germany." In September 1916, they were transferred to Schneidemuhl where they remained until the Armistice was signed. The brothers further reported "The day after the Armistice was signed, we escaped from our Commando and crossed the German Poland frontier into Russian Poland on November 14, 1918. We arrived in Warsaw 24 hours after the Germans evacuated it. We travelled by train from Warsaw through Galitia and Austria to Buda Pesth [Budapest] where we remained for a fortnight. Then we went to Vienna where we boarded a special train for English people and came through Switzerland to Lyons (St. Germain). We arrived in Calais on December 17, and sailed for Dover on December 19, 1918."
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