The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (3/400203) Private Harold Bolitho, 3rd Battalion, the Royal Australian Regiment, Korean 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 , the story for this day was on (3/400203) Private Harold Bolitho, 3rd Battalion, the Royal Australian Regiment, Korean War.

3/400203 Private Harold Bolitho, 3rd Battalion, the Royal Australian Regiment
DOW: 25 April 1951

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private Harold Bolitho.

Harold Bolitho was born on 1 May 1924 in St Kilda, Victoria, the son of Ernest and Margaret Bolitho. Ernest had served on the Western Front during the First World War, and returned to Australia before going to work at the Boolarra Butter Factory. By the early 1930s he had taken over the business.

Harold Bolitho attended Boolarra Public School and then Caulfield Grammar School. After leaving school, he went to work as a tester in his father’s factory. When the factory closed, the family moved to Surrey Hills in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs.

Following the outbreak of the Second World War, Harold served for a short time in a militia unit. On his 19th birthday, 1 May 1943, he enlisted for service in the Second Australian Imperial Force. He qualified as a signaller and saw service in the Northern Territory. He ended the war as a crewman on board the Australian Army ship Crusader. The vessel was launched towards the end of the war and was involved in transporting military vehicles, equipment and supplies to Lae, Rabaul, Torokina and Aitape. He was discharged in December 1946 and returned home.

On 25 June 1950 North Korean forces crossed the 38th Parallel into South Korea and the Korean War began. In late July, the Australian government announced that the 3rd Battalion, the Royal Australian Regiment – 3RAR – would be committed to the war. First, however the battalion, which was stationed in Japan, needed to be brought up to strength.
In early August the government called for 1,000 volunteers, with a preference for men who had served during the Second World War. The scheme, known as K-Force, called for the men to serve for three years in the army, with one of those years being service in Korea.

Bolitho enlisted on 29 August and after a brief period of training was sent to Japan, arriving on 8 January 1951. After further training at Haramura, he was sent to Korea to join 3RAR in late February. As a qualified signaller, he joined the battalion’s signals platoon.

By this time the United States-led United Nations force had advanced into North Korea and been driven back out again. Bolitho’s arrival coincided with the end of the UN withdrawal and the start of bite and hold operations to push Chinese and North Korean troops beyond the 38th Parallel. Over the next six weeks 3RAR was involved in the advance. It took part in several actions, most notably the capture of the hills known as Salmon and Sardine towards the head of the Kapyong Valley.

In the middle of April the Australians were relieved and 3RAR went into reserve near the village of Kapyong. A number of men were sent to Japan for leave, and Bolitho was attached to A Company as Major Ben O’Dowd’s signaller. The men began preparations for Anzac Day. These plans would never be completed.

During the morning of 23 April, O’Dowd was resting on the grass, enjoying the sunshine. He later recalled, “I lay stretched out on the grass enjoying a carefree doze when Harry Bolitho shattered my dreams with an urgent message: companies were on half an hour’s notice to move and the Orders Group was to assemble at the village of Chuktun-ni.”

The Chinese had launched a major offensive, smashing into the 6th Republic of Korea Army division holding the head of the Kapyong Valley, which had had been forced to withdraw.

The men of 3RAR were sent to the hills and began preparing defences. They were not expecting to be there for more than a night. They certainly were not expecting to fight a major battle. But by late afternoon the sounds of war drew ever closer and the stream of refugees had become a flood.

A Company, located on a forward spur, took the brunt of continuous Chinese assaults that began around 9.30 pm and continued into the early hours of the next morning. Each wave was preceded by a shower of hand grenades. It was probably during one of these grenade attacks that Bolitho suffered multiple shrapnel wounds to his head, arms and legs.

By mid-morning the 3RAR was surrounded, with no way to evacuate the wounded. Lieutenant Colonel Bruce Ferguson organised a column of US Sherman tanks to pick up the wounded. But the column of tanks was exposed to heavy, continuous fire as it made its way to Australian positions. Regimental Medical Officer Dr Don Beard rode in one of the tanks to assist in the evacuation of the wounded.

As the tanks did not have enough room for the wounded, the decision was made to strap as many men as possible to their rear decks. Beard and the tank crews were afraid that the Chinese would open fire on the tanks, but there was no other choice.

When the tanks were loaded, they began the return journey down the valley. The Chinese held their fire, allowing the wounded to reach safety. The tanks made at least one more journey to retrieve 3RAR’s wounded and were shot at on the way, but the wounded were let past.

Bolitho was among those transported to 3RAR’s Regimental Aid Post. From there he was evacuated by soldiers from the Indian Field Ambulance to the nearby US Mobile Army Surgical Hospital where he died from his wounds the following day. He was laid to rest in the United Nations Memorial Cemetery near Pusan. He was 26 years old.

During the afternoon of 24 April, 3RAR was forced to withdraw from its positions, but the men made it to their brigade lines later that night. The battalion had suffered 32 men dead, 59 wounded and three men taken prisoner of war.

Bolitho’s name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my left, among the 340 Australians who died as a result of their service during the Korean War.

This is but one of the many stories of service and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Private Harold Bolitho, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Michael Kelly
Historian, Military History Section