War Memorial Hall c1929
Roland Travers WOODVILLE
Roland Woodville was born on 7 August 1864 in East Melbourne, Victoria. His parents were William Harris and Alice (née Dittmar) Woodville. He entered Scotch in 1874.
Roland was a livery stable proprietor when he enlisted on 15 December 1915 in Perth, Western Australia. He served in the Australian Army Medical Corps with the rank of Private. His Regimental Number was 17445.
Roland died on 13 September 1917 at Tidworth Military Hospital, Tidworth. Although officially he was 46 years old, in fact he was 53.
Service record
Roland gave his age on enlistment as 44, when in fact it was 51. He was allotted to reinforcements for the Australian Army Medical Corps as a Private. In January 1916 he was made an Acting Corporal, and then a Provisional Sergeant in April. Nevertheless, he was a Private when he embarked with AAMC Reinforcements at Fremantle on 29 June 1917. On 25 August 1917 he disembarked at Plymouth, England.
Roland could not have known that he had just weeks to live. The day after arriving, he went to the AAMC Training Depot at Parkhouse. Just 8 days later on 3 September he was admitted, ‘dangerously ill’, to No. 5 Military Hospital at Tidworth. He died on 13 September, of cerebro spinal meningitis.
The medical report on his death, by a Captain Watts of the RAMC, said that Roland was 45 but ‘looked 55’ – he was in fact 53 (see below). Watts said too that Woodville had entered the hospital on the third day of the illness with a temperature of 104 degrees F (40 degrees C). The doctor concluded: ‘He became unconscious and delirious and died of coma’(see below).
His service file contains a letter from the military authorities to Raymond’s sister Beatrice explaining the circumstances of his funeral (see below).
Roland Woodville is buried in the Tidworth Military Cemetery (Row C, Grave 301), North Tidworth, Wiltshire, England.
Photographs and Documents:
Admission details
Letter to Roland Woodville’s sister concerning his funeral.
Sources:
- Australian War Memorial – Roll of Honour
- Mishura Scotch Database
- National Archives of Australia – B2455, WOODVILLE ROLAND TRAVERS
- The AIF Project - https://www.aif.adfa.edu.au/showPerson?pid=331783
