The Lost Diggers of Fromelles

Two names that are on this WW1 Honour Roll are Herbert "Nutsy" Bolt and Alex Clingan. Prior to their enlistments in 1915 they were rugby league players with the Newtown Rugby League Club. Bolt in first grade and Clingan in second grade.

Bolt also represented NSW against Queensland in 1913, as reported in the Sydney Morning Herald on 13 August 1913, and Clingan was a promising cricketer.

Both Bolt and Clingan have their names on the Roll of Honour at the Australian War Memorial (AWM) in Canberra and had their service commemorated in the AWM's Last Post Ceremonies. 

In 2018, students at St Clare's College, Waverley in Sydney, studied the Battle of Fromelles as part of their history lessons. The students created profiles of a number of Australian soldiers that were found in a mass grave at Pheasant Wood, France, near the Battle of Fromelles, in 2008. Two of these soldiers were Herbert "Nutsy" Bolt and Alex Clingan. 

The students at St Clare's College then decided to produce a documentary which looks at the Battle of Fromelles through the eyes of the women left behind.

Video profiles of the soldiers such as Bolt and Clingan will be interwoven throughout the documentary along with letters sent from women back home. The film will highlight the work of Lambis Englezos who was instrumental in the discovery of the mass grave at Pheasant Wood. Alongside writer/director Patrick Lindsay, the students aim to restore the dignity of these men and give closure to the generations of families who have grieved for the passing of loved ones killed in a World War 1 battle over a century ago.

The launch of the Fromelles documentary will be held at St Clare's College on 21 April 2021.                

• Australian War Memorial's Roll of Honour - Herbert Thomas Bolt https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/R1663442