5744
BROKENSHA, Edwin Stanley
| Service Number: | 1588 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 32nd Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Norwood, South Australia, 10 January 1897 |
| Home Town: | Kensington, South Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Telephone Mechanic |
| Died: | Queensland, Australia, 3 February 1951, aged 54 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Lutwyche Cemetery, Brisbane, Qld |
| Memorials: | Norwood Primary School Honour Board, Postmaster General's Department Adelaide, Rose Park Gartrell Memorial Methodist Church Roll of Honour, Tusmore Burnside District Roll of Honour |
World War 1 Service
| 18 Nov 1915: | Involvement Private, 1588, 32nd Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '17' embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: HMAT Geelong embarkation_ship_number: A2 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 18 Nov 1915: | Embarked Private, 1588, 32nd Infantry Battalion, HMAT Geelong, Adelaide | |
| 11 Nov 1918: | Involvement 1588 | |
| Date unknown: | Wounded 1588, 5th Divisional Signal Company |
Help us honour Edwin Stanley Brokensha's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Adelaide Botanic High School
Edwin Stanley Brokensha was born on the 10th of January 1897 in Norwood, Adelaide. At the age of Edwin’s enlistment, he was described as having dark hair, brown eyes, standing at a height of 5 feet and 6 and a half inches and 152 pounds. Edwin was the son of Samuel Brokensha and Ellen Jane Hewitt Bennetts Brokensha and was raised in Rose Park with his seven siblings. As Edwin grew older, he worked as a telephone mechanic. He had also previously served in the cadets as a senior and was still serving at the time of his enlistment. Edwin was 18 years and 6 months old when he applied to enlist to the Australian Imperial Forces on the 23rd of July 1915.
Edwin’s training soon started off with basic war requirements. He embarked from Adelaide, South Australia, on board the HMAT A2 Geelong on the 18th of November 1915. He was part of the 32nd Battalion, 1st reinforcements and his service number was 1588. Edwin first arrived in Egypt in late 1915. In Egypt, Edwin was a known as a ‘tourist soldier,’ a soldier who went through training but was still able to find time to do some sightseeing in Cairo. Edwin served as a private then a sapper, which was a soldier who was tasked with duties such as building and making repairs.
Edwin survived his battles of World War l and returned home on the 1st of July in 1919. Then on the 9th of February 1927 in a news article, there was information that Edwin Stanley Brokensha while married, wed another woman. It was said that he wed his legal wife in Adelaide and then left five weeks later to Melbourne where he then married other women and lived with her for some time. He said he married this woman, Evelyn Pretoria Keen, when drunk but continued to live with her after the ceremony. Once their funds were spent, he went back to his legal wife, Hilda Grace Brokensha. In another news article on the 30th of August 1930, a case in which Edwin was unlawfully begging on Hindley Street, Adelaide. This case was taken to court where it was then dismissed.
On the 11th of March 1941, Edwin enlisted for World War ll in Paddington, New South Wales. Edwin served as a private again with the service number of N106369. He was later discharged from the Military that same year on the 25th of October. It is unknown why he was discharged and there is no further information into his World War ll history.
Edwin Stanley Brokensha passed away on the 3rd of February in 1951, he was 54 years old and buried in Lutwyche Cemetery in Brisbane. There is no information of Edwin’s cause of death but 54
Lest We Forget
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