MORGAN, Edward Armstrong Leslie
| Service Numbers: | 1314, 378 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 4 June 1915 |
| Last Rank: | Gunner |
| Last Unit: | Siege Artillery Brigade |
| Born: | Eaglehawk, Victoria, Australia, 26 July 1894 |
| Home Town: | Queenscliff, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Professional Soldier, Royal Garrision Artillery |
| Died: | Died of wounds, Mont St Eloi, France, 16 March 1916, aged 21 years |
| Cemetery: |
Cabaret-Rouge British Cemetery, Souchez Plot XV, Row K, Grave no. II |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Bendigo Great War Roll of Honor, Eaglehawk St Peter's Honour Roll, Queenscliff Royal Australian Garrison Artillery Third Military District Honor Roll |
World War 1 Service
| 1 Mar 1915: | Involvement 1314, The Royal Artillery (Garrison) | |
|---|---|---|
| 4 Jun 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Gunner, 378, Siege Artillery Brigade | |
| 17 Jul 1915: | Involvement Gunner, 378, Siege Artillery Brigade, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '4' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Orsova embarkation_ship_number: A67 public_note: '' | |
| 17 Jul 1915: | Embarked Gunner, 378, Siege Artillery Brigade, HMAT Orsova, Melbourne | |
| 16 Mar 1916: | Involvement AIF WW1, Gunner, 378, Siege Artillery Brigade | |
| 16 Mar 1916: | Wounded AIF WW1, Gunner, 378, Siege Artillery Brigade, No details (55th Battery were located at Acq, near Arras at the time). Evacuated to 1st North Midlands Field Ambulance at Mont St Eloi, where he died of wounds the same day. |
AWM Dedication (Last Post Ceremony) - 01 Nov 2016
Today we remember and pay tribute to Gunner Edward Armstrong Leslie Morgan, who was killed fighting in France in the First World War.
Edward Morgan was born in 1896, one of eight children of William and Dorothy Morgan of Eaglehawk in central Victoria. He attended school in the Eaglehawk area and worked as a butcher in Gunbower and Camberwell, where he was “well-known and highly respected by a large circle” and “very popular among his many comrades”. At school Morgan paraded with senior cadets as a part-time soldier with the 20th Battery, Australian Field Artillery, and the 68th Infantry Regiment. He became a full-time soldier when he joined the Royal Australian Garrison Artillery as a gunner at Fort Queenscliff near Geelong.
Morgan enlisted in the AIF in June 1915 and the following month sailed with the Siege Artillery Brigade for the training camps in England. He was mustered as a gunner and sent to France with the newly formed 55th Siege Battery. It was equipped with four 9.2-inch howitzers – the principal counter-battery artillery piece employed by the British Army on the Western Front. While most of the Australian gunners fought as members of the Australian Field Artillery, Edward was among a small number of specialist gunners whose skills and experience in operating the large-calibre siege guns were grouped under the 36th Heavy Artillery Group and operated under I ANZAC command. As the heavy hitters supporting the Australians on the Western Front, the 36th Heavy Artillery Group was among the first AIF units to file into the line in France.
After landing at Boulogne in late February 1916, the gunners of the 55th Siege Battery were billeted in a number of rear-area billets as they made their way up the line to the relatively quiet Armentières sector. On 15 March they stopped briefly in the village of Maroeuil, near Arras, where their billets were shelled by German artillery. Twenty minutes of accurate and sustained fire from the enemy field gun batteries killed two men and wounded another ten. Morgan was mortally wounded in the bombardment and died the next day. He was one of the first Australian soldiers to die through direct enemy action in the fighting on the Western Front.
Aged 21 at the time of his death, Edward Morgan was buried at nearby Mont-Saint-Éloi, and was later reinterred at Cabaret-Rouge British Cemetery at nearby Souchez. A year after his death, his grieving family published the following epitaph in the local newspaper: “He rose to responsive to his country’s call. He gave for his best, his life his all.”
Edward Morgan’s name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my right, among more than 60,000 Australians who died while serving in the First World War.
This is just one of the many stories of service and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Gunner Edward Morgan, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.
Submitted 8 June 2024 by Scott Hyland
Biography contributed by Robert Wight
Also commemorated in Eaglehawk Cemetery, Victoria. Parents: William John and Dorothy Jane MORGAN, Church Street, Eaglehawk, Victoria.
Biography contributed by Scott Hyland
Transcript from the Australian War Memorial Last Post Ceremony - 01 Nov 2016.
Edward Morgan was born in 1896, one of eight children of William and Dorothy Morgan of Eaglehawk in central Victoria. He attended school in the Eaglehawk area and worked as a butcher in Gunbower and Camberwell, where he was “well-known and highly respected by a large circle” and “very popular among his many comrades”. At school Morgan paraded with senior cadets as a part-time soldier with the 20th Battery, Australian Field Artillery, and the 68th Infantry Regiment. He became a full-time soldier when he joined the Royal Australian Garrison Artillery as a gunner at Fort Queenscliff near Geelong.
Morgan enlisted in the AIF in June 1915 and the following month sailed with the Siege Artillery Brigade for the training camps in England. He was mustered as a gunner and sent to France with the newly formed 55th Siege Battery. It was equipped with four 9.2-inch howitzers – the principal counter-battery artillery piece employed by the British Army on the Western Front. While most of the Australian gunners fought as members of the Australian Field Artillery, Edward was among a small number of specialist gunners whose skills and experience in operating the large-calibre siege guns were grouped under the 36th Heavy Artillery Group and operated under I ANZAC command. As the heavy hitters supporting the Australians on the Western Front, the 36th Heavy Artillery Group was among the first AIF units to file into the line in France.
After landing at Boulogne in late February 1916, the gunners of the 55th Siege Battery were billeted in a number of rear-area billets as they made their way up the line to the relatively quiet Armentières sector. On 15 March they stopped briefly in the village of Maroeuil, near Arras, where their billets were shelled by German artillery. Twenty minutes of accurate and sustained fire from the enemy field gun batteries killed two men and wounded another ten. Morgan was mortally wounded in the bombardment and died the next day. He was one of the first Australian soldiers to die through direct enemy action in the fighting on the Western Front.
Aged 21 at the time of his death, Edward Morgan was buried at nearby Mont-Saint-Éloi, and was later reinterred at Cabaret-Rouge British Cemetery at nearby Souchez. A year after his death, his grieving family published the following epitaph in the local newspaper: “He rose to responsive to his country’s call. He gave for his best, his life his all.”
Edward Morgan’s name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my right, among more than 60,000 Australians who died while serving in the First World War.
This is just one of the many stories of service and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Gunner Edward Morgan, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.
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