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From François Berthout

Pte 1895 William Henry Edwards,
46th Australian Infantry Battalion,
12th Brigade, 4th Australian Division
 
The Somme, today this name resonates in our thoughts and in our hearts as the symbol of endless bloodbath, as being the deadliest of the battles of the great war but it is, for me, the symbol of courage and sacrifice of millions of men who here bravely fought side by side in the fields of poppies which, season after season grow and bloom on the old battlefields and the white graves of a whole generation of young men on whom I am proud and honored to watch. The Somme is for me the symbol of the Remembrance of these heroes who for their countries and for France, shed their blood and gave their lives for our tomorrow and who, in our greatest care, with respect and gratitude will be remembered and honored so that they will live forever and never be forgotten.

Today, it is with the greatest gratitude and respect that I would like to honor the memory of one of these young men, one of my boys of the Somme.I would like to pay a very respectful tribute to Private number 1895 William Henry Edwards who fought in the 46th Australian Infantry Battalion, 12th Brigade, 4th Australian Division, and who was killed in action 103 years ago, on July 8, 1918 at the age of 21 on the Somme front.

William Henry Edwards was born on July 14, 1896 in Charters Towers, Queensland and was the son of the late William Henry Edwards and Annie Beatrice Edwards (née Turner), of Longland Street, East Brisbane, Queensland, but after the death of her husband, She left to live with her son William at Train terminus, Belmont, Brisbane, Queensland.William was educated in public school and after graduation served for two years in the 8th Infantry battalion of the Senior Cadets and was exempted from the Citizen Forces.Before the outbreak of the war, he worked as a searcher and watchman (Customs Department).
William enlisted on February 9, 1916 in Brisbane, in the 47th Australian Infantry Battalion, 3rd Reinforcement, and after a period of two months of training he embarked with his unit from Brisbane on board HMAT A46 Clan Macgillivray on May 1, 1916 and sailed for Egypt where he was disembarked on August 6, 1916 and embarked the same day from Alexandria, on board Megantic then proceeded overseas for France and arrived at Etaples on September 24.

On October 2, 1916 William marched out to unit and was taken on strength on October 3 in the 47th Australian Infantry Battalion to occupy a position called Ridge Wood in the Ypres Salient but the following month, on November 20, he fell ill and was admitted to the 38th Casualty Clearing Station the next day,on November 21, suffering from ICT Feet (Inflammation Connecting Tissue).

On November 24, 1916, he was transferred and admitted to the 5th General Hospital then on December 1st, he was admitted to the 2nd Convalescent Depot in Rouen then after a period of rest, he was sent to the Base depot on December 19 then joined the 4th Australian Divisional Base Depot on December 20 in Etaples then joined his battalion on February 6, 1917 in Mametz, in the Somme, at Mametz Camp where William and the men of the 47th Australian Infantry battalion followed a period of training.

On February 9, The 47th Battalion and William joined the trenches at Bulls Road, Flers, where they fought with great courage until February 22, then were sent to Albert the following month and in early April, were sent to Bullecourt before returning on the Somme front on April 13.

A month later, on May 17, 1917, William and the 47th Australian Infantry Battalion were sent to Steenwerck and the following month, fought in Messines, in the Ypres sector then at Hill 63 in Ploegsteert in July and then in Wytschaete in August.

After terrible fighting, William was granted leave in England on September 9, 1917 before joining his battalion on September 20 at Steenworde and fought again with great courage in Ypres, Menin Road and on October 11, in the terrible battle of Passchendaele.
Five months after the battle of Passhendaele, the German army launched its spring offensive on March 21, 1918 and William and the 47th Australian Infantry Battalion were urgently transferred to the Somme and fought at Dernancourt where in early April they stopped the advance of the Germans who aimed to capture Amiens and its railway junction and a month later, on May 25, William was transferred and taken on strength in the 46th Australian Infantry Battalion and in June, fought in the Corbie sector but unfortunately, a month later, on July 8, 1918, he met his fate and was killed in action, probably by a shell in Le Hamel, he was 21 years old.

Here is what the war diary of the 46th Australian Infantry Battalion reports for the day of July 8, 1918:
"Throughout the day the enemy subjected our new support line and our od front line to heavy barrages with 5,9 and 4,2 shells. At night enemy heavily gas shelled the ravine where Battalion H.Q. is situated and casualties were caused through it. At night rations were got up to the men in their new positions and working parties were out consolidating.The right company "D" who were slightly in rear of their alloted objectives pushed forward their line to the correct position, capturing 8 prisoners and 2 machine guns during the advance. Posts were dug and the men were well settled down before daylight. The weather changed and a thunderstorm took place at 11pm but fortunately we escaped the worst of the rain."

Today, William Henry Edwards rests in peace with his friends, comrades and brothers in arms at Villers-Bretonneux Military Cemetery, Somme, and his grave bears the following inscription "Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God".

William, you who were so young, it is with gallantry and courage that you answered the call of duty and alongside your young comrades, your brothers in arms, you served with dedication and pride, you fought with convictions, with determination for your country and for France for which you have done so much and for which you gave everything you had until your last breath and for all that, for all that you did for us, I would like, from the bottom of my heart to say thank you and express to you, through these few words, my gratitude, the gratitude and the respect of my country, of my generation which will never forget what yours lived and went through for that we may live in the peace in which you rest in peace alongside thousands of other young men who, in the trenches and the battlefields, gave their youth, their all in the mateship and the comradeship which united them in the fury of war.In the fields of poppies they stood and fell, they shed their blood side by side on a sacred ground which keeps the traces and the lives on the millions of red petals which undulate in peaceful waves in the fields of the Somme where so many men moved forward in a tight line, shoulder to shoulder in determined waves that faced the fires of enemy machine guns under a torn sky, on bruised grounds by tons of shells that transformed formerly peaceful landscapes into quagmires on which collapsed a whole generation of men who were mown down by bullets and and fire and who, day after day, drowned in deep mud, in shell holes that swallowed men and horses, friends and enemies, united in death, on once peaceful fields on which Soon there were rows of wooden crosses which were pulverized by attacks and counterattacks and into which more and more men fell.in this hell on earth, at the cost of terrible losses, they held their position under rains of howling metal, they shared the sufferings and tears, the death of their friends, brothers and fathers who fell for peace and freedom, men who had as only youth a war which set the face of the world on fire in the trenches in which they fought for four years and who survived thanks to their comrades, to the men who were by their side and who gave them the strength and courage to fight , to keep their heads high and in this unity they found they had the strength and courage to fight and side by side went over the top to the sound of the whistles, they moved forward, bayonets and rifle forward through the howls men, through the clatter of tanks, monsters of heavy and slow steel which crushed everything in their path, they went together to face their fates, many of them were stopped by a deluge of lead and with bravery,they gave their lives in the eternal shroud of poppies which remind us, more than a hundred years later, of what so many of these heroes did for us and who today, in eternal silence, rest in peace together in cemeteries, cities white and serene of the Somme in which they are remembered and honored and over which I would always watch as a faithful guardian so that these young men, my boys of the Somme are never forgotten and bring them back to life through my steps, through my words that I express with my heart for each of them who, ever, will be our sons, our heroes on whom the flame of remembrance will never cease to shine.Thank you so much William,for everything.At the going down of the sun and in the morning,we will remember him,we will remember them.