Oliver Holmes Heard

Submitted by wollongongcityl... on Wed, 12/03/2014 - 16:07

First Name:

Oliver

Middle Name:

Holmes

Last Name:

Heard

Mother's Name:

Sarah Elizabeth Heard

Father's Name:

Roger Heard

Date Enlisted:

Thursday, July 22, 1915

Rank at Enlistment:

Private

Unit:

17 Battalion 1-13 Reinforcements

Service:

Infantry

Awards:

Victory Medal

British War Medal

Place of Death:

Wollongong

Details:

Oliver Holmes Heard, born in 1893 at the Railway House, Bulli to Roger and Sarah Heard was a woodworking machinist prior to the war.

Oliver enlisted on 22 July, 1915 at the age of 21. Initially he joined the 17th Battalion and was later transferred to the 11th Battalion. His diary from the Front begins in October 1915 and ends in 1916. It contains names and addresses of friends in Wollongong and entries regarding the war and service details (extract listed in "images").

Oliver returned home from the war in 1919 and subsequently married Elvira Nellie aka Vera Wakeford, sister of Muriel Wakeford. Together they had three children and lived at Staff St, Wollongong. Oliver then worked at Boyded Industries. He received the Victory, Star and British War medals as recognition for his service in the First World War.

Oliver Heard died in 1967 at the age of 74 at Wollongong.

Sources:

NAA: B2455, Heard O H 2391

AWM, First World War Embarkation Rolls - Oliver Holmes Heard, Australian War Memorial, Canberra, 2014, <http://www.awm.gov.au/people/rolls/R1824884/>, viewed December 18 2013.

AWM, First World War Embarkation Rolls - Oliver Holmes Heard, Australian War Memorial, Canberra, 2014, <http://www.awm.gov.au/people/rolls/R1740173/>, viewed December 18 2013.