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Pte. Walter Bollands
British Army 5th Battalion Yorkshire Regiment
from:Middlesbrough
Walter Bollands of Middlesbrough, enlisted on 14/09/1915, age 16 years & 9 months. He was posted to the 3/5th Battalion Yorkshire Regiment was a Depot/training units formed in Northallerton and Scarborough, April and March 1915, transferred 08/02/1916 to 5th Yorkshire regiment.
He went to France, Embarking from Southampton with 5th Battalion Yorkshire Regiment to Rouen. On the 1st of Aug 1916 Aged 17, he saw action on the Somme in the Battle of Flers-Courcelette with the 5th Bat Yorkshire Reg. Between the 7th and 17th August 1916 the 5th Battalion moved from Kemmel to Millencourt, a village just West of Albert in the Somme. On the 11 Aug 1916, Walter joined 150th Machine Gun Corps Frances 50th (Northumbrian) Division, 150th (York & Durham) Brigade and was in action on the 16th Sep 1916 on the Somme in the Battle of Flers-Courcelette (15th-22nd September) The following day, 17 Sep 1916 he recievd a Gun shot wound to the back, and was sent to Le Treport on the French coast which was the site for some significant hospital provision.
In the 1 Oct 1916 issue of the Green Howard Gazette, Walter is amongst those listed in Sept - Oct 1916. On the 5th Oct 1916 he was admitted to the Scottish National Red Cross Hospital, Cardonald, Glasgow. But on the 6 Oct 1916 there is a AFW 3016 Army form authorising a wounded man to return to duty and he was posted to 87 Territorial Forces Depot.
On the 16th of Nov 1916 He joined the Highland Light Infantry 2/5th (City of Glasgow) Battalion who were at Danbury, going on to the Curragh in January 1917, Dublin in August, and back to the Curragh in November 1917. On the 20th of Feb 1918 Walter was posted to 14th Battalion Highland Light Infantry (120th Brigade 40th Division) (202902) in France. On the 1st of Mar 1918 The battalion moved into the front line at Fleurbaix relieving 2/10th K.O.L.R.
On the 9th of Apr 1918, then aged 19, Walter;s Service record shows him as reported missing. Walter Bollands was taken Prisoner of War after the Battle of the Lys, when the Portugeuse line collapsed and was taken to a German POW camp April 1918.
