Bertie HOLLEY

Regimental number3328
Place of birthHuntspill, Somerset, England
ReligionChurch of England
OccupationFarmer
AddressSpringvale, Southbrook, Toowoomba, Queensland
Marital statusSingle
Age at embarkation22
Height5' 7.25"
Weight140 lbs
Next of kinSister, E Holly, Springvale, Southbrook via Toowoomba, Queensland
Previous military serviceNil
Enlistment date24 July 1915
Place of enlistmentToowoomba, Queensland
Rank on enlistmentPrivate
Unit name15th Battalion, 11th Reinforcement
AWM Embarkation Roll number23/32/2
Embarkation detailsUnit embarked from Brisbane, Queensland, on board HMAT A48 Seang Bee on 21 October 1915
Regimental number from Nominal Roll3328
Rank from Nominal RollPrivate
Unit from Nominal Roll15th Battalion
FateKilled in Action 11 April 1917
Place of burialNo known grave
Commemoration detailsAustralian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, France

Villers-Bretonneux is a village about 15 km east of Amiens. The Memorial stands on the high ground ('Hill 104') behind the Villers-Bretonneux Military Cemetery, Fouilloy, which is about 2 km north of Villers-Bretonneux on the east side of the road to Fouilloy.

The Australian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux is approached through the Military Cemetery, at the end of which is an open grass lawn which leads into a three-sided court. The two pavilions on the left and right are linked by the north and south walls to the back (east) wall, from which rises the focal point of the Memorial, a 105 foot tall tower, of fine ashlar. A staircase leads to an observation platform, 64 feet above the ground, from which further staircases lead to an observation room. This room contains a circular stone tablet with bronze pointers indicating the Somme villages whose names have become synonymous with battles of the Great War; other battle fields in France and Belgium in which Australians fought; and far beyond, Gallipoli and Canberra.

On the three walls, which are faced with Portland stone, are the names of 10,885 Australians who were killed in France and who have no known grave. The 'blocking course' above them bears the names of the Australian Battle Honours.

After the war an appeal in Australia raised £22,700, of which £12,500 came from Victorian school children, with the request that the majority of the funds be used to build a new school in Villers-Bretonneux. The boys' school opened in May 1927, and contains an inscription stating that the school was the gift of Victorian schoolchildren, twelve hundred of whose fathers are buried in the Villers-Bretonneux cemetery, with the names of many more recorded on the Memorial. Villers-Bretonneux is now twinned with Robinvale, Victoria, which has in its main square a memorial to the links between the two towns.

Panel number, Roll of Honour,
  Australian War Memorial
75
Miscellaneous information from
  cemetery records
Parents: Frederick and Eliza HOLLEY, Palmwoods, Queensland
Family/military connectionsBrothers: 538 Pte Clifford HOLLEY, 31st Bn, killed in action, 20 July 1916; 537 Pte Henry James HOLLEY, 31st Bn, returned to Australia, 9 February 1919.
Other details

War service: Egypt, Western Front

Taken on strength, 15th Bn, Moascar, 5 February 1916.

Transferred to 47th Bn, 3 March 1916.

Admitted to hospital, Serapeum, 17 May 1916; rejoined Bn, 22 May 1916.

Embarked Alexandria to join the British Expeditionary Force, 1 June 1916; disembarked Marseilles, France, 8 June 1916.

Admitted to 4th Australian Field Ambulance, 13 October 1916 (tonsillitis); rejoined Bn, 24 October 1916.

Reported missing, 12 October 1917.

Court of Enquiry, Crepy, 2 November 1917, concluded: 'Killed in action, 12 October 1917'.

Medals: 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal
Miscellaneous detailsRegimental number incorrectly entered on Embarkation Roll as 3326.
SourcesNAA: B2455, HOLLEY Bertie