BALLARAT man and Roy Holloway was a prisoner of war in Soltau, in Northern Germany, during World War I.
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At just 17 years and 10 months, Private Holloway forged his father's signature to enlist in the Australian Army and answered the call to fight for his country. He was hoping to join his older brother Perc in the Light Horse Brigade, but instead was enlisted into the infantry and embarked to Egypt.
He landed at Gallipoli with the 14th Battalion on the late afternoon of April 25, 1915 and remained there until the evacuation the following November. He then fought against the Germans in the trenches of France and the Belgium front line.
During the battle to take Pozieres in September 1916, he was wounded in the thigh by shrapnel. Repatriated to London, he survived bomb attacks from the Germans. He rejoined his battalion in France for the big attack at Bullecourt, but was again wounded, this time in the foot. He was only 50 metres from the German trenches and was taken prisoner, spending the next 20 months at Soltau.
He recorded his war experiences in a diary, which, together with postcards and letters he sent home to his elder sister Lottie, remained unknown to the family until 2006. These letters and postcards, as well as medals and photographs of fellow prisoners of war and camp images are now housed in the Ballarat Gold Museum.
Private Holloway was one of 13 World War I prisoners of war from Ballarat who returned to Australia. Three of the men were buried in the Old Ballarat Cemetery, while the remainder, including Private Holloway, were interred at the Ballarat New Cemetery.
BALLARAT miner William Moffat McLachlan was 42 years old when he enlisted into the Australian Army to fight in World War I.
With his background as a miner, it was no surprise he was seconded to the Mining Corps, later being transferred to the 2nd Australian Tunnelling Company on the Western Front.
He worked his way through the ranks, finally reaching sergeant.
Sergeant McLachlan's gallantry earned him the Belgian Croix de Guerre awarded by the King of Belgium in October 1918.
"Sgt. McLachlan was in charge of a party of men detailed to clear a road for traffic through Estrees. Although under heavy shell and machine gun fire he set a splendid example of coolness and resource, and not only completed the task successfully, but also, by his skilful control, considerably reduced the number of casualties."
Sergeant McLachlan returned to Australia abroad the Ulysses and arrived home in March 1919. He died in May 1931, aged 63.
SISTER Ethel May Bolton (Broughton) was the daughter of Lieutenant Colonel William Bolton, who commanded the 8th Battalion.
The third of 11 children, she joined the Australian Army Nursing Service on April 10, 1915 after nursing for four years at the Ballarat Hospital.
Just three days after enlisting, she sailed from Australia and served at Salonika until she returned on the Mooltan in December, suffering an arthritic problem. She served at base camp in Melbourne until June 1917, when she again embarked on the Mooltan to serve once again at Salonika.
Sr Bolton returned to Australia in March 1919 and was awarded the Royal Red Cross 2nd Class. She married Arthur Broughton in July 1929 and died on June 6, 1971 at the age of 85.
ARCHIBALD Campbell was born at Wendouree, but was farming near Creswick when, at the age of 22, he enlisted in the Australian Army on August 19, 1914.
He joined the 8th Battalion and sailed from Melbourne on the Benalla on October 19.
He suffered a gunshot wound to his foot during the Gallipoli landing on April 25, 1915 and was evacuated to the 1st Australian General Hospital at Heliopolis in Egypt, but was able to rejoin his unit at Gallipoli on June 22. He was evacuated again in October, suffering from diphtheria, this time being sent to nearby Mudros.
After the Gallipoli campaign he moved to France in March 1916 and was wounded in August of that year and again in October 1917. His series of battle wounds, however, were not over. On August 9, 1918, he suffered a severe gunshot wound to his left shoulder and was evacuated to the Bethnal Green Military Hospital in England.
After the war, he was among the first to be returned to Australia, arriving at Melbourne on January 27, 1919. He died in January 1970 at the age of 77.
These are just some of the stories included in a new book to be launched next week about the World War I diggers, nurses and chaplains buried or memorialised at Ballarat's two cemeteries.
Avid Gallipoli historian Garry Snowden, together with help of the cemeteries' community advisory committee members Private Holloway's son, Les, Ballarat historian Dot Wickham and Ballaarat General Cemeteries chief executive officer David Beames, spent thousands of hours walking through the two cemeteries, cross referencing names with the 3801 memorialised along the Avenue and Honour and war records to bring together 1346 names of World War I veterans included in the book They Answered Their Country's Call.
The idea behind the book, which will be launched on April 1 by Senator Michael Ronaldson, came about after the community advisory committee wanted to do something to commemorate this year's Anzac centenary.
"We thought it would be a good idea to identify the number of graves in the Ballarat cemeteries linked to World War I," said author Mr Snowden.
What initially started two years ago as a concept of possibly 12 or 15 short stories for a brochure, quickly grew into the book, which will have an original print run of 1000.
Mr Snowden and Mr Beames walked around every memorial, every headstone and every plaque of both cemeteries while compiling information for the book. This information was then doubled checked by Trina Jones, a Rotary Club member who volunteered her services.
The research was made even harder by the fact some diggers buried in the cemeteries did not have a headstone and were in unmarked graves.
The result of such arduous research is a book containing a cross section of soldiers who, in their own way, all contributed to the war effort. Included in the book are highly decorated diggers, honest soldiers and even the good old fashioned Aussie larrikin.
"Every soldier has a story. Everyone one of them is equal, because they volunteered to put themselves on the line," Mr Snowden said.
The inspiration for the title of the book came from the headstone of a young Ballarat man, Murray Hunter, who enlisted to fight in World War I, but died before being shipped out. The inscription on his headstone read: "He answered his country's call".
"I was wrestling with the title of the book, until I saw that inscription," Mr Snowden said. "The day I read that headstone was the day I realised all these soldiers had one thing in common ... they all put their hand up for their country."
Ballaarat General Cemeteries chief Mr Beames paid tribute to the community advisory committee, in particular Mr Snowden, Mr Holloway and Ms Wickham, for the hard work in compiling the book.
"Thousands of hours have goon into the research and compilation of this book, a testimony to the men and women who put their hands up for their country," Mr Beames said.
They Answered Their Country's Call will be launched by Senator Michael Ronaldson in the RSL Section of the Ballarat New Cemetery at 11am on April 1. Copies of the book will be available on the day or at all leading booksellers.