Colonel Walter Dollman VD

Colonel Walter Dollman

VD

ATTENDED PULTENEY STREET SCHOOL 1879 - 1883

Walter attended Pulteney Street School from 1879, and in 1883 was awarded 3rd prize in Form IV. He was an active old scholar and was on the Pulteney Old Scholars’ Association committee from 1927-1941, taking on the position of President 1932-1934. In 1926 he wrote the widely circulated poem Our Dear Old School.

In his youth Walter worked as a station hand on various stations throughout News South Wales, Queensland, Northern Territory and Western Australia, including a stint at gold prospecting in WA. In 1895 he returned to South Australia where he joined the commercial staff of The Chronicle (later The Advertiser). He was active in community affairs serving as Councilor of Parkside Ward (1904-07), Alderman of City of Unley (1908-09, 1911-12) and Mayor of Unley (1912-14).

Walter served in the pre-war militia as an officer in the “Adelaide Rifles”, 10th Infantry Regiment and 74th Infantry Regiment. In 1915 he was appointed to command the 27th Battalion with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. The battalion was commonly referred to as “Unley’s Own”, and many Pulteney boys joined the regiment, due to his position. He commanded the Battalion through the Gallipoli campaign, and then took them to the Western Front in 1916 where they were among the first Australian Divisions to face the Germans. In July they fought in the Battle of the Somme. After Pozières, Dollman returned to Australia on medical advice. The horrors of the campaigns had drained him physically and mentally and he had suffered gas poisoning. In Australia he took charge of the Mitcham training camp until 1919. He retired from the army in 1921 with the rank of Colonel.

After the war, Walter took up a soldier settlement block at Renmark and was President of the RSL Renmark sub-branch in 1923 and 1924. He returned to Adelaide and The Advertiser in 1924. In 1929 Walter was appointed State President of the RSL after being president of the Unley sub-branch for three years. He was instrumental in introducing the 9pm ode For the Fallen recited at RSL clubs.

Walter co-authored the Battalion history The Brown and Blue Diamond in 1921 and for many years was a journalist for The Chronicle newspaper, writing under the nom de plume Garth Owen.

Colonel Walter Dollman died in his Malvern home on 23 August 1945, age 72. LEGENDS PULTENEY