The 4th July marks the centenary of the death of Pte Oliver William Hodgkinson of the 44th Battalion Australian Imperial Force No. 2108.
Oliver was born in Newborough in 1892 to parents Edward and Mary Ann. On the 1901 census the family are living in Glass Lane, Bromley Hurst. On the 1911 census Oliver is now working and living for the Charlesworth family in Armitage.
At the end of 1911 Oliver emigrated to Fremantle, Australia aged 19. He joined the Australian Imperial Force in 1916. During 1917 he was hospitalised and returned to England January 1918, when we know he visited Abbots Bromley.
In May 1918 he was fit for duty and returned to France. Sadly on the 4th July he died from wounds received to his head and legs.
Pte. Oliver William Hodgkinson is buried in the Crouy British Cemetery, France – he was 26 years old.