Studio portrait of Private (Pte) Frederic Roy Olive, (later MM), labourer, of Donald, Victoria. ...

Studio portrait of Private (Pte) Frederic Roy Olive, (later MM), labourer, of Donald, Victoria. [The rank of Lance Corporal in the AIF has not been substantiated and may have been awarded during his eighteen months duty with the senior cadets prior to enlistment] He enlisted in the 3rd Machine Gun Company (3 MG Coy) on 4 May 1916 and embarked from Melbourne aboard HMAT Port Lincoln on 20 October 1916 for Devonport, England where the unit remained in training for some months before he was transferred to 4 MG Coy in February 1917. His unit embarked for the Western Front in France on 7 September 1917 where he was transferred to 24 MG Coy. On 16 April 1918 he was awarded the Military Medal (MM) ' ...for conspicuous bravery as forward runner during operations near Dernancourt on 5 April 1918... ' Pte Olive was wounded in action near Villers-Bretonneux, France, on 1 May 1918 and died of these wounds two days later in No 4 Casualty Clearing Station. He was aged 23 years. This image is one from a poster produced at Donald, Victoria, commemorating the deaths of soldiers associated with Donald and surrounding district during the First World War. The poster is held at P08261.001.