The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of Captain Albert Raymond Bolton-Wood MC, 20th Battalion, AIF, First World War.

The Last Post Ceremony is presented in the Commemorative area of the Australian War Memorial each day. The ceremony commemorates more than 102,000 Australians who have given their lives in war and other operations and whose names are recorded on the Roll of Honour. At each ceremony the story behind one of the names on the Roll of Honour is told. Hosted by Troy Clayton, the story for this day was on Captain Albert Raymond Bolton-Wood MC, 20th Battalion, AIF, First World War.

Captain Albert Raymond Bolton-Wood MC, 20th Battalion, AIF
DOW 5 November 1917

Story delivered 1 September 2017

Today we remember and pay tribute to Captain Albert Raymond Bolton-Wood.

Albert Bolton-Wood was born on 3 August 1895, the second of four sons of Alexander and May Bolton-Wood. His youngest brother, Frederick, lived only a few months, and the other three boys grew up in Dulwich Hill. Albert attended St Leonards Public School.

In 1905, his father, Alexander, a dentist from Glebe, was charged with paying maintenance for an illegitimate son, and the following year he died. After her husband’s death, May Bolton-Wood moved her family to North Sydney. At the outbreak of war, Albert was working for the Perdriau Rubber Company on George Street, Sydney.

All three of the Bolton-Wood brothers enlisted for service in the Australian Imperial Force during the First World War. The first was the youngest, Eric, who enlisted in November 1914 and served in the Camel Corps in the Middle East until 1918. The eldest brother, Lex, enlisted in February 1915 and was posted to the 13th Battalion. In May 1915 Albert applied for and was granted a commission in the 18th Battalion. He had long been an enthusiastic member of the cadets, attaining the rank of lieutenant.

Second Lieutenant Bolton-Wood arrived on Gallipoli in late August 1915, as the last of the major offensives was ending. He remained there for the rest of the campaign, and following the evacuation was promoted to lieutenant. He continued training in Egypt for nearly three months before being sent to fight on the Western Front.

In June 1916 Bolton-Wood participated in a number of raids in a quiet sector of the line. On the night of 26 June he was one of a party which entered enemy trenches and captured four prisoners, killing many more. Despite being wounded during the raid he remained on duty.

A month later the 18th Battalion participated in the heavy fighting around the French village of Pozières. On 29 July, Bolton-Wood led a bombing platoon forward to reinforce another battalion. He was noted to have “fought with the greatest gallantry even after he was wounded [and was] largely responsible for the repulse of [an enemy attack]”. Bolton-Wood was later evacuated to England with severe wounds to his face and left hand. One month later his brother, Lance Corporal Lex Bolton-Wood, was killed in action at Mouquet Farm, in almost the same area.

Albert Bolton-Wood remained in England for some time, recuperating from his wounds. In October 1916 he was transferred to France, working at 7th Brigade headquarters for “instructional purposes”. A few weeks later he was notified that he had been awarded the Military Cross for “services rendered during the recent fighting at Pozières”.

In Australia the Sydney Morning Herald of 1 November 1916 held two announcements. On page 11 an article celebrated the award of a military cross to Lieutenant Albert Bolton-Wood for his courageous actions at Pozières. On page 12 the war casualties column recorded the death in action of his older brother Lance Corporal Robert Alex Bolton-Wood.

In December 1916, Bolton-Wood returned to the 18th Battalion, and a month later was promoted to captain.

The battalion was involved in the follow-up of German forces during their retreat to the Hindenburg Line, and was involved in particularly heavy fighting around Warlencourt in late February, and then took part in the second Battle of Bullecourt in early May. Shortly afterwards, Captain Bolton-Wood was transferred to the 20th Battalion.

On 20 September 1917, the 20th Battalion took part in the Battle of Menin Road, east of Ypres in Belgium. The attack was successful along its entire front, but the advancing troops had to overcome formidable entrenched German defensive positions, including mutually supporting concrete pill-box strongpoints, and resist fierce German counter-attacks. The 1st and 2nd Divisions sustained over 5,000 casualties in the action, one of whom was Captain Albert Bolton-Wood.

Receiving a shell wound to the neck, he was evacuated to a clearing station, and then to the 2nd Red Cross Hospital in Rouen. On 5 November 1917, Albert Bolton-Wood died of wounds. He was buried at St Sever Cemetery the following day.

He was 22 years old.

His name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my right, among more than 60,000 Australians who died while serving in the First World War.

This is but one of the many stories of service and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Captain Albert Raymond Bolton-Wood, who his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Meleah Hampton
Historian, Military History Section