SPARKS, Edward
| Service Number: | 1392 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 27 April 1915, Enlisted at Liverpool. |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 20th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 27 October 1894 |
| Home Town: | Banksia, New South Wales, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Railway labourer |
| Died: | Illness, France, 8 April 1916, aged 21 years |
| Cemetery: |
Aire Communal Cemetery, France |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Haymarket Loco Boiler Shop Roll of Honour, Haymarket NSW Government Railway and Tramway Honour Board |
World War 1 Service
| 27 Apr 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 1392, 20th Infantry Battalion, Enlisted at Liverpool. | |
|---|---|---|
| 25 Jun 1915: | Involvement Private, 1392, 20th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '13' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Berrima embarkation_ship_number: A35 public_note: '' | |
| 25 Jun 1915: | Embarked Private, 1392, 20th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Berrima, Sydney |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by John Oakes
Edward SPARKS, (Service Number 1392) was born on 27th October 1894 at Sydney. He was born as John Allison Twible but must have been adopted at an early age for the person nominated as his next of kin is described as his step-mother, Mrs Olive Moore-Sparks, of Banksia.
He first worked for the NSW Railways as a shop boy in the Locomotive Workshops at Eveleigh from 8th May 1914. On his 21st birthday in 1915 his job description changed to labourer.
He enlisted at Liverpool on 27th April 1915 and was allotted to the 20th Australian Infantry Battalion. He left Australia through Sydney aboard HMAT ‘Berrima’ on 25th June 1915. By 16th August he was with the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force on Gallipoli. He remained there for the duration of the campaign and returned to Alexandria via Mudros (on the Greek iskland of Lemnos) on 9th January 1916.
In March he embarked ‘Ingona’ at Alexandria for passage to join the British Expeditionary Force on the Western Front in France, passing through Marseilles on 25th March 1916. On 5th April he was admitted to the Field Ambulance and then the 2nd Canadian Casualty Clearing Station at Steenbecque. He died there three days later of pneumonia.
Captain S J Streight, Canadian Army Medical Corps, reported:
‘This man when admitted to this hospital was suffering from Acute Lobar Pneumonia, and was from the time of his arrival here acutely delirious and consequently unable to leave any message or express any wish. His death occurred on fourth day after admission.’
His burial was at Aire Communal Cemetery, Aire-sur-la-Lys, France, on the following day.
A pension of £39 per annum was granted to Sparks’ mother Olive Moore-Sparks, and of £13 per annum to his step-sister May Olive Ena Gordon Sparks, both from 22nd June 1916. Sparks’ medals and other mementoes were given to his step-mother.
- based on the Australian War Memorial Honour Roll and notes for the Great Sydney Central Station Honour Board.