DODD, William Henry
| Service Numbers: | 50, 1599 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 28 April 1915, Brisbane, Queensland |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 25th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Jondaryan, Queensland, 10 April 1885 |
| Home Town: | East Brisbane, Brisbane, Queensland |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Packer |
| Died: | Natural causes, Greenslopes, Queensland, 2 March 1961, aged 75 years |
| Cemetery: |
Mount Thompson Memorial Gardens & Crematorium, Queensland Location: Columbarium 2, Section: Section 4 |
| Memorials: |
World War 1 Service
| 28 Apr 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 50, Brisbane, Queensland | |
|---|---|---|
| 29 Jun 1915: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 1599, 25th Infantry Battalion, Enlistment/Embarkation WW1, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '15' embarkation_place: Brisbane embarkation_ship: HMAT Aeneas embarkation_ship_number: A60 public_note: '' | |
| 29 Jun 1915: | Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 1599, 25th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Aeneas, Brisbane | |
| 4 Sep 1915: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 1599, 25th Infantry Battalion, ANZAC / Gallipoli | |
| 29 Jul 1916: | Wounded AIF WW1, Private, 1599, 25th Infantry Battalion, Battle for Pozières , GSW (right thigh) | |
| 6 Apr 1918: | Discharged AIF WW1, Private, 1599, 25th Infantry Battalion, Returned to Australia due to illness |
Help us honour William Henry Dodd's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Paul Trevor
'Who was the Model for the Original Manly War Memorial Statue?
The model for the original soldier was Private William "Bill" Henry Dodd. He was born at Jondaryan, central western Queensland on 10 April 1885 and enlisted in the 25th (Infantry) Battalion at Enoggera, Brisbane. The 25th Battalion had just been raised and was predominantly composed of men recruited in Queensland. They left Australia in early July, trained in Egypt during August, and by early September were manning trenches at Gallipoli and then on to the Western Front in France in December that year.
What made Bill an ideal candidate as a mason's model? He was the typical Anzac of legend: a tall, country boy. He had volunteered for service in 1909 and was an experienced soldier by the time of enlisting in the AIF in 1915. He already had six years with the Queensland Mounted Infantry (Light Horse), the Australian Field Artillery (AFA), and in the Training Battalion of the AIF before enlisting. At enlistment he was working in the family bottle merchant business at Wooloongabba, Brisbane and had a wife, May, and a 10 month old child, Francis ("Frank").
After further training in Egypt, Bill and the 25th Battalion proceeded to France. Landing on 19 March 1916, it was the first AIF battalion to arrive there. Now fighting as part of the 2nd Division, it was about to take part in its first major battle at Pozieres. William was in Amiens in mid July 1916 and entered the front line at Taara Hill on the 27th. The following day - the 28th - they were to make a night attack on the Germans at Pozieres. At midnight the attack began. It was done in five waves. The lines moved forward as rehearsed and they successfully made their final objective but were met with heavy machine gun fire from the enemy's 2nd line trenches resulting in fairly heavy casualties for the Australian battalion. The enemy also opened fire with their heavy artillery and trench mortars causing more casualties. Bill received a gunshot wound to the thigh and was stretchered away to the casualty clearing station. He was one of the 132 men wounded that night, along with 32 killed and 180 missing. He was sent to England to recover and spent much of the next 6 months in and out of hospital.
He returned to Brisbane on 16 January 1918 and separated from his wife. He was given custody of young Frank. Bill was selected as a model for the Andrew Petrie War Memorial sculptures (all 21 of them). Bill was 5'10" (170 cm) tall which was taller than average, and weighed in at 144 lb (65 kg). He has a good physique and looked good. The masons at Andrew Petrie's had to scale his measurements down (87%) to get the suitable dimensions for the 5'1" model, and they did a great job.
Bill died in 1961. His son Frank joined the AIF in WW2, became a prisoner of war and died of head wounds in Changi in August 1945.' LINK (indicatorloops.com)
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