Gordon Wallace Bolton

Captain, East Yorkshire Regiment

Gordon Wallace Bolton was born in Camberwell in 1889, son of John and Louisa Bolton nee Mansell, and a student at Alleyn’s in 1904. He was living at 175 Friern Road, East Dulwich at the time. He was the assistant secretary of the Old Boys’ Swimming Club and was widely known by many former pupils of the school. He enlisted in the Territorials in 1909 and was discharged in 1910. Gordon briefly spent time in South Africa, returning from Durban in 1912.  Shortly after the outbreak of war, he enlisted in the British Expeditionary Force and was assigned to the East Yorkshire Regiment where he served as a Captain. During his time overseas, Gordon served on the Western Front and saw action in France, Flanders and Salonika. In April 1918, he was holding the line at Ypres when the German Army launched their Spring Offensive. During the struggle to resist the advancing German forces, Gordon was killed on April 24^th 1918. His role at the school as assistant secretary ensured that he would be greatly missed by many former pupils after the end of the war. He is buried at Tyne Cot cemetery and also commemorated on the Wallington Memorial in Surrey, the Durban Cenotaph and the memorial of St Thomas' Church in Durban.

With thanks to Kevin Jordan,  archivist at Glenwood High School in Durban, South Africa for some of this information.