Lieutenant Henry Olver

Henry Olver was born at Murtoa, Victoria, on 4 November 1887, one of five children born to Richard Thomas Olver and Sarah Ann (née Davies). Like his father and brother Frederick, who also served, Henry Olver was a grocer.

Olver enlisted in the Australian Infantry Force (AIF) on 9 July, 1915, and was assigned to the 7th Australian Infantry Battalion with the rank of private. He left Melbourne aboard RMS Osterley on 29 September 1915. Shortly after his arrival in Egypt, Olver was transferred to the 59th Battalion, a new unit that had been raised in Egypt in February 1916 as part of the expansion of the AIF.

Olver was appointed lance corporal in July 1916 and in September was promoted to the rank of corporal. In November be was promoted again to the rank of Company Quartermaster Sergeant (CQMS). In April 1917 he was selected to join the Cadet Training Battalion in Cambridge, England. He rejoined the 59th Battalion in France in August 1917, and was appointed the rank of 2nd lieutenant. In May 1918, Olver was promoted to the rank of lieutenant and transferred to the 57th Battalion.

Olver returned to Australia on 3 May 1919 and resumed work as a grocer. He married Jessica Mildred May (née White) in late September 1919 and in March 1921 their son, Norman Henry Olver, was born. In 1929, Henry Olver and his brother Frederick were commissioned by the Australian War Memorial to prepare reminiscences of their experiences during the Third Battle of Ypres to promote the tour of Will Longstaff’s painting, Menin Gate at Midnight. The paragraphs were published in Australian newspapers

Henry Olver died in Melbourne on 11 March 1968, aged 80.