MILLWARD, Edgar Charles
| Service Number: | 578 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 24 March 1915, Melbourne, Victoria |
| Last Rank: | Corporal |
| Last Unit: | 24th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Bendigo, Victoria, Australia, 1896 |
| Home Town: | Bendigo, Greater Bendigo, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Camberwell Grammar School, Victoria, Australia |
| Occupation: | Bank clerk |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Bullecourt, France, 3 May 1917 |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Australian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, France, Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, Picardie, France |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Bendigo Great War Roll of Honor, Villers-Bretonneux Memorial (Australian National Memorial - France) |
World War 1 Service
| 24 Mar 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, SN 578, 24th Infantry Battalion, Melbourne, Victoria | |
|---|---|---|
| 8 May 1915: | Promoted AIF WW1, Corporal, 24th Infantry Battalion, Melbourne, Vic. | |
| 10 May 1915: | Embarked AIF WW1, Corporal, SN 578, 24th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Euripides, Melbourne | |
| 10 May 1915: | Involvement AIF WW1, Corporal, SN 578, 24th Infantry Battalion, Enlistment/Embarkation WW1 | |
| 6 Sep 1915: | Wounded 'ANZAC' / Gallipoli, Bomb wound (legs) | |
| 12 Sep 1915: | Wounded 'ANZAC' / Gallipoli, GSW (left hand) | |
| 3 May 1917: | Involvement AIF WW1, Corporal, SN 578, 24th Infantry Battalion, Bullecourt (Second) |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Scarlett Cates
Edgar Charles Millward also known as Ted by his friends and family, was born in Bendigo, Victoria, 1896. He stayed there for his childhood and travelled to Canterbury for school at Camberwell Grammar School. He finished school at 17 and became a bank clerk for two years until he was enlisted into war at the age of 19. He was enlisted on March 24th 1915 in Melbourne, Victoria. His service number when he was enlisted didn’t change for the rest of his life. This number was 578.
His first enlistment was on the 24th of March 1915 in Melbourne, Victoria, as a private in the 24th infantry battalion. On the 10th of May in the same year he embarked from Melbourne for the Gallipoli front as a corporal. While at Gallipoli on the 6th of September both of his legs and his left hand were wounded by a bomb. This was a severe injury; he was evacuated to Malta and subsequently to England and only rejoined his battalion in December 1916. In February 1917 he was again taken to hospital with urethritis, returning to duty in early April 1917.
Ted was killed in action by machine gun fire to the stomach at Bullecourt on 3rd May 1917. He was buried on the field but his body could subsequently be recovered.
Edgar Millward was a part of the 24th Infantry Battalion, all the men and women in this battalion are from or grew up in or near Melbourne. The Battalion formed from the 6th Brigade and the 2nd Division in 1915. This meant that with the 21st, 22nd and 23rd Battalions made up the 6th Brigade in the 2nd Division. They arrived in Egypt in July to begin training before arriving in Gallipoli early September as a part of the 2nd Division. They arrived in the Peninsula on the 4th of September to serve in the Lone Pine sector. The Battalion took over responsibilities for the front line on the 12th. Their trenches were extremely congested and being as their trench was one of the closest to the Turks, it was hotly contested. The position was so close to the Turks that they rotated constantly with the 23rd Battalion. In May 1919 the Battalion disbanded and a total of 19 battle honours were rewarded in 1927 for their involvement in the war. 909 men were killed and 2,494 men were severely wounded.
Every Battalion patch actually tells a story and is a significant part of every service man/woman’s time in the AIF. The 24th Battalion patch is a diamond shape to symbolise the 2nd Division. The lower red part of the patch represents the 2nd brigade in the 2nd Division. The upper white part represents the 4th Brigade in that division. The letter “A” is for the all of the members of ANZAC, every single person in war, wore this badge with pride.
Biography
Son of Charles Edgar and Alice Mary (nee Hill) Millward who married 3 April 1890 at Bendigo. He was first cousin to Thomas March Hall who was also killed. Their mothers were sisters. His mother started Girton College, Stawell then Bendigo. She died 1911.
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