Contributed by Ron Inglis, October 2021:
The Wolff brothers, 3506 Arthur Carlson Wolff and 7609 David Wolff, are one of seven sets of brothers on the Auburn War Memorial. The Wolff brothers attended Auburn Public School and their names are on the honour roll of St Philip’s Anglican Church (even though David gave ‘Baptist’ as his religion on enlistment). Both brothers nominated their parents living at 33 Susan Street, Auburn as their next-of-kin. They were both in the 13th Battalion, Fourth Australian Division, at the time of their deaths.
Labourer David Wolff, 21, was the younger brother. He enlisted in Inverell on 2 April 1917. He embarked on the Marathon a month later arriving in Devonport, United Kingdom, on 20 July 1917. Crossing to France 7 December 1917, David was initially taken on strength of the 1st Battalion, but on 2 March 1918 he was transferred to the 13th Battalion to be with his Arthur. The brothers were in the 13th Battalion together for two months before Arthur was killed in action on 3 May 1918. David was killed in action in the battle of Le Hamel on 4 July 1918.
For both Arthur and David, their father chose the inscription HE WAS BELOVED BY US ALL, but the inscriptions were never used for neither body was ever found. The brothers are inscribed on the Australian National Memorial at Villers-Bretonneux.
David Wolff is honoured on the following memorials in Australia:
- Auburn War Memorial
- Municipality of Auburn 1914-1919 Honour Roll
- Auburn Public School First World War Honour Roll
- Auburn Boys Public School Great War Honour Roll
- St Philip's Anglican Church Auburn First World War Honour Roll
- Inverell War Memorial
- Roll of Honour Australian War Memorial Canberra
His decorations:
- British War Medal 1914-20
- Victory Medal
