Walter Dollman goes from journalist, to Unley mayor, to World War I battalion commander

SOLDIER, writer and mayor of Unley – Colonel Walter Dollman was a man of many talents.

ANZAC Walter

SOLDIER, writer and mayor of Unley – Colonel Walter Dollman was a man of many talents.

The Parkside-born soldier was a journalist and editor at The Advertiser and The Chronicle, a long defunct weekly newspaper targeting rural communities.

Dollman’s interest in civic affairs saw him become Unley mayor from 1913-14.

The soldier’s fascinating past and published work prompted his grandson, Guy Dollman, 61, to learn more about the man who started his military career with the Adelaide Rifles in 1895 and rose to be the commanding officer of the 27th Battalion, AIF.

“I have his letters and he wrote the battalion history himself …so there are plenty of stories around,” Guy said.

“And all his letters were kept and transcribed by my aunt.”

Dollman was educated at Pulteney Grammar and worked on numerous outback stations before returning to Adelaide in 1895.

He joined The Advertiser as an accountant and was commissioned a lieutenant in the Adelaide Rifles in 1900.

He was elected to Unley Council in 1903, where he served as an alderman and mayor.

In the meantime he was promoted to captain in the 10th Australian Infantry Regiment (Adelaide Rifles), was made deputy adjutant quartermaster general of the 4th Military District, and later commander of the 74th Infantry Regiment.

“The 74th Infantry Regiment had its headquarters in Unley, near where the council is, so if my grandfather had council business he would have walked about 300m from the army drill hall,” Guy said.

Dollman was appointed to command the 27th Battalion on 16 March, 1915. The unit – known as “Unley’s Own” – landed at Gallipoli on September 12.

The 27th was shipped off Gallipoli in December, having suffered relatively light casualties, then proceeded to France where it fought at the Battle of Pozières in July/August, 1916.

“I remember one story, I think it was in France, where a fighter plane crashed into the trench in front of him and (he) describes, in his letters, how the pilot fell out dead into the trench,” Guy said.

“He also describes shells blowing people to smithereens and having people picking them up in bags.”

Dollman was wounded in a gas attack and was considered unfit for frontline service so returned to Australia in 1917.

He took up land in Renmark but returned to Adelaide and was employed as a journalist at The Advertiser and then an editor of The Chronicle.

“He wrote a lot of fiction under another name, stories about the bush, a lot of serviceman columns related to RSL news and events … he used the name Garth Owen (and) WD,” Guy said.

In late 1916 he was appointed commandant of the Mitcham Army Camp and always took part in Anzac Day commemorations.

“He used to ride a horse in the Anzac Day march and my father pushed him in a wheelchair towards the end of his life.”

He transferred to the retired list with rank of colonel in 1921 and was elected state president of the RSL in 1929.

He died at his Unley Rd, Malvern, home on August 23, 1945, aged 72, and is buried in the AIF section of West Tce cemetery.

On 30 August, 1945, The Chronicle referred to Dollman as: “The grand old man of the RSL ... Because no-one has done more for the league and for returned soldiers…than (him).”

HIS story is part of Messenger’s 100 Years, 100 Days, 100 Stories project, which will profile 100 South Australian World War I heroes as the nation builds up to the centenary of the Allied landing on Gallipoli on April 25, 1915. If you have the details and war record of a family member who served during World War I, let us know. Please go to your local Messenger’s Facebook page and send us the details.

Originally published as Walter Dollman goes from journalist, to Unley mayor, to World War I battalion commander