Bolton, Alfred Herbert
7275 Private Alfred Herbert Bolton - 28th Battalion AIF
Alfred Herbert Bolton was born in 1899 in Fremantle WA to Herbert and Mary Bolton. He was one of five siblings, Mabel (1890), Cecil (1893), Percy (1895) and Leonard (1903).
He was educated in Fremantle and after leaving school took up work as a Apprentice Coppersmith for four years with HH Bolton. During this time Alfred also took part in the Royal Australian Navy cadet scheme.
The family lived at Victoria Avenue North Fremantle.
Early in the war Alfred's Brother Percy enlisted and was killed at Gallipoli in 1915.
Alfred himself was too young to enlist then but had to wait till he turned 18 in 1917. He enlisted on the 8th June 1917 and had the consent form from his parents who requested that Alfred only be sent overseas after he had turned 19.
The medical examiner passed Alfred as fit for service and recorded his physical attributes as;
Height - 5 feet 8 & 3/4 inches tall;
Weight - 132lbs;
Chest Measurement - 31-33 inches.
After being sent to Blackboy Hill Camp Alfred was posted to No.22 Depot. As he still had another five months before he turned nineteen, Alfred was posted to the 5th Military District Guard. He was in this role from the 18th June 1917 to the 3rd January 1918. The District Guard provided sentries for the Military Bases in WA and also participated in military funerals.
On the 4th January 1918 Alfred was transferred back to Blackboy Hill Camp where he was assigned to the 22nd Reinforcements to the 28th Battalion AIF. He trained with this group for the next several weeks.
On the 8th March 1918 Alfred and his group were entrained for Fremantle Harbour where they boarded the transport ship Ormonde. This ship then set sail for Egypt, reaching Port Tewfik on the 4th April 1918. The men were then disembarked and reboarded on another ship, the Ellenga. This ship then sailed for England, reaching Southampton on the 15th May 1918.
After being disembarked the men were sent to the 5th Training Battalion at Fovant Camp on the Salisbury Plains. Alfred was training in camp here from the 15th May 1918 to the 15th August 1918. He then received orders for France. After his arrival Alfred spent a few days at the Base Depot at Le Havre and was then taken on strength of the 28th Battalion on the 20th August 1918.
Alfred joined his unit just in time for their operations against Mont St Quentin and Peronne in late August and early September 1918. He came through this action unscathed and remained with the 28th Battalion when they saw action at the Hindenburg Line and Montbrehain in October 1918. After the action at Montbrehain, the 28th Battalion were withdrawn from the line for a well deserved rest.
The 28th Battalion were still out of the front line when the Armistice was announced on the 11th November 1918. After the Germans withdrew back to their own borders the Australians were sent into what had been German occupied parts of Belgium and France. The 28th Battalion went to the Charleroi area in Belgium.
On the 17th December Alfred was sent to hospital with a foot injury and was there for a week before returning to his unit. On the 2nd January 1919 Alfred returned to hospital suffering from bronchitis. It was severe enough for Alfred to be sent to the 5th General Hospital at Rouen. Alfred spent the next four weeks at Rouen and was then transferred to England.
On the 28th January 1919 Alfred was sent to the Fulham Military Hospital and then on the 13th February was transferred to the 1st Australian General Hospital at Sutton Veny. Alfred was in hospital till the 8th April 1919.
Alfred must have been getting sick of being in hospital as he went absent without leave for four days and after reporting back was admonished and fined 8 days pay.
On the 14th April 1919 Alfred was sent to No.2 Command Depot Camp at Weymouth to await being assigned a troopship home. On the 3rd May 1919 Alfred boarded the HT Leicestershire and set sail for Australia, reaching Fremantle on the 12th June 1919.
Alfred was then discharged from the AIF on the 28th June 1919.
After his return home Alfred resumed his work as a Coppersmith.
In 1921 married Gladys Edith Maud Meakins and had two children, Robert in 1921 and Corolie in 1930.
In 1922 the family were living at Solomon Street Palmyra with Alfred still working as a Coppersmith. By 1928 they had moved to Anzac Road Mt Hawthorn with Alfred now a Foreman.
In 1931 they moved to 202 Hampden Road Hollywood before having a stint in Kalgoorlie. Alfred was now working as a Panel beater and they were living at 66 Brookman St Kalgoorlie.
With the advent of World War Two, Alfred again offered his services, enlisting on the 25th April 1940. He lowered his age by seven years and was accepted for service. He was then sent to Northam Army Camp and was assigned to the General Reinforcements pool.
On the 31st May 1940 Alfred left Fremantle Harbour aboard the transport ship Strathaven. The ship went to England, disembarking at Liverpool on the 18th July 1940.
Due to the threat of German invasion of England the AIF men who had been sent to England were utilised as a reserve in case this occurred. However, when the threat eased the majority of the Australians were sent to the Middle East.
WX2224 Corporal Alfred Bolton had been assigned to the 3rd Railway Maintenance Company. This unit was raised deom reinforcemnts from Queensland, Tasmania and WA during April 1940, to work on the Lines of Communication for the British Army in France. The WA contingent were in the Third Convoy that was diverted around the Cape to England, arriving in Liverpool aboard on 18 Jul 1940, by which time France had fallen. Based at Longmore England they constructed sidings and repaired track in southern England until March 1941 when they moved to the Middle East to rejoin the rest of the Company which had arrived in Palestine in October 1940. When the draft from Britain arrived the unit was renamed 2/3rd Australian Railway Construction Company.
In June 1941 Alfred was transferred for duty with the 2/2nd Australian General Hospital. He served with this unit in the Middle East for the next several months but in March 1942 he returned to Australia. It appears his work as a Coppersmith meant that Alfred was assigned as an essential service so he was discharged from the Army on the 1st August 1942.
After his discharged from the Army Alfred returned to his work as a Coppersmith with the family returning to live at Hollywood, Taking up residence at 202 Hampden Road.
Alfred and his family continued to live here until his death on the 13th September 1963 aged 64. Alfred was cremated at Karrakatta Cemetery.