Branch of Service

Army

Conflict

World War I (1914-1918)

Date of Enlistment

14/08/1914

Place of Enlistment

Royal Military College, Duntroon ACT

Gender

Male

Date of Birth

23/03/1894

Place of Birth

Prahran, Victoria

Address (at enlistment)

Royal Military College, Duntroon ACT

School(s) Attended

Wesley College (Melbourne, Victoria)

Occupation

Soldier

Next of Kin

Daisy Wolfenden (mother), Gordon Street, Malvern, Victoria

Burial Place

Beach Cemetery, Gallipoli, plot 1, row A, grave 33

Final Rank

Lieutenant

Final Unit

2 Field Artillery Brigade AIF

Died (killed in action) on 11 May 1915, Gallipoli, Turkey, aged 21 years

AWM Roll of Honour Memorial Panel 12, Canberra ACT
Large stone tablet on outside of northern wall of St. John's Church, Reid ACT

Wolfenden entered the Royal Military College, Duntroon on 22 June 1911 and finished the academic year in the top five of his class. He was a member of the guard of honour formed by the cadets at the naming ceremony for Canberra on 12 March 1913. When war broke out in Europe, Wolfenden, along with the rest of his class, graduated early on 14 August 1914 and he joined the 2nd Field Artillery Brigade at Broadmeadows near Melbourne as a Lieutenant.

He landed on Gallipoli with the 4th Battery, 2nd Field Artillery Brigade on 25 April - his was the only artillery gun landed that day. He was killed on 11 May 1915 when a Turkish shell burst over his field gun. According to his commanding Officer, Wolfenden "came to the Observation Post to see me while I was shooting the Battery, and was watching with me." The battery was positioned on the Lone Pine plateau and was registering on Turkish trenches and a concealed battery on Baby 700 when Wolfenden was killed. Note that the original date of death in his service file was given as 7 May 1915.

Description - height 6 feet, weight 164 pounds, chest 36-39 inches, Church of England.

AWM Roll of Honour Database
AWM First World War Unit Embarkation Rolls
AWM Collections Record : H04013, C01433, P02148.008, P03954.001
Charles Bean, 'Official History of Australia in the War of 1914-18' (Vol. II, p.72)
Colonel J.E. Lee, 'Duntroon: The Royal Military College of Australia 1911-1946', 1952
NAA RecordSearch - Series B2455 (First Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1914-1920)
Sydney Morning Herald - 22 May 1915