3463, Private Harry Ferguson Roles
9th Battalion AIF
49th Battalion AIF
Killed in Action – 27th March 1918
Mapping Our Anzacs:
Harry Roles aged 19 enlisted on the 5th Aug 1915. He embarked from Brisbane in October 1915 initially with the 9th Bn., however he was transferred early in the war to the 49th Bn. On the 7th June 1917 he was wounded in action. After a period of hospitalization in England he recovered and was able to rejoin his unit in France. Although Harry survived many battles throughout the war on the 27th March 1918 his good fortune ran out and he was killed instantly by shell fire when his company was walking through a village on their way to man support trenches near Dernancourt. Harry was apparently buried a few yards from where he was killed however the exact position of his grave was lost and he is now remembered on the memorial at Villers Bretonneux. Harry was the 3rd of 10 children to Charles and Annie Roles from Central Queensland. His elder brother John (Westley) Roles also enlisted. He survived the war.
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National Archives – Service Record
Further reading – 9th Battalion
Further reading – 9th Battalion
Further Reading – Always Faithful – A History of The 49th Battalion, 1916 – 1982
