Virtual
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Edgar Roy Moulds
Edgar Roy Moulds was born on the first of April 1895, in Ashton, Adelaide. Raised by his father and mother Emily, he attended Norton Summit Public school then settled in to a profession as a gardener. In 1915 as the first Anzacs where called into battle at Gallipoli to fight the Turks, Edgar asked for his mother’s permission to enlist. She turned him down and said that he could join only once he reached the age of 21. So in 1916 as the fighting on the western front intensified, at the age of 21 he enlisted for the Australian Infantry forces. A mere 9 days after his 21st birthday.
On the 27th of June 1916 he and many others of the 10th Battalion, 18th Reinforcement embarked from Melbourne to England on board the A37 Barambah. After a long 2 month voyage he arrived in Belgium. After being taken in by the 48th Battalion he was thrown right into the conflict on the Somme battlefield. But after a short 16 days in the trenches of Belgium he fell sick to a pleurisy infection. Pleurisy is a lung infection which causes sharp pains when breathing, this pain is created when the lungs rub against the inflamed pleura cavity. Edgar was quickly transported to England via the Hospital ship HMAT Wandilla, where he received treatment in the London Hospital. Only a few days later and he was back at Belgium once again fighting in the Somme. But just 2 days later he was to fall ill and once again found himself sick in hospital. After a short break in the field hospital he was yet again thrown into the fighting.
At this stage the great war had run its course for 2 years with neither side gaining any ground. After returning from hospital on the 3rd of May 1917. He was to find himself fighting in the battle of Arras, which had started on the 9th of April. The operation had started with major gains by the allies but they had been met with heavy resistance and had been fighting a stale mate since. The small town was burdened with 160,000 British and 125,000 German deaths over the 37-day operation. Edgar also battled from the 7th to the 14th of June in the battle of Messines. Which was a relatively short operation designed to redirect the flow of reinforcements away from the Arras and Aisne fronts.
Shortly after the Battle of Messines concluded he found himself fighting at Ypres, on the battle field of Polygon Woods from the July summer to the cold October autumn. At this point he found himself between the sights of a German soldier. A bullet struck him on the hand, passing right through. Five days later he was transferred to the Orpington Hospital in England where he was to receive treatment for 4 months. Edgar describes this hospital in one of his personal letters to his family as “A gentleman’s mansion in the country side”. He enjoyed the place so much he decided to go for a little walk about without the knowledge of his senior officers. After 3 days he returned to receive but was punishment with a loss of pay. This upset Edgar as he on many occasions wrote messages to his mother to send him money so he could continue to pay for his site seeing in England.
It wasn’t until the 14th of February 1918 that he was redeployed onto the battle fields of Belgium. Once again joining the 48th battalion, it took about a month before he saw fighting again. This time it was in the Allied defence as the German soldiers made a push for the British supply lines on 21st of March. This offensive, Operation Michael, which lasted till the 5th of April, resulted in many German casualties as the allies were able to stop any reinforcements from reaching the pushing armies, isolating the German armies. The last of the war Edgar saw was on the 3rd of May 1918 during a night time offensive at Monument Woods, Ypres. His experience has been captured in this letter he wrote to his mother, recounting his actions:
“Just to give you an account of what has happened to me this last week a terrible lot I might tell you. Suppose you’ve heard by now I’ve got my second issue from old Fritz.
Oh mum he got a rightun on to me this trip as Berry would say who old Uncle Tom used to talk about.
It all happened on Friday morning early about 2:30 when we went over the top once more. I’d got about 200 to 300 yards and met him and quite ready for us so of course a fight with bombs and forth began. I was carrying my Lewis Gun but couldn’t get into action, wasn’t supposed to be there so I looked around for a shell hole to hop into. Just as I was looking bout something hit me a terrible whack in my left thigh I thought my whole leg was gone in fact. I felt it to make sure. I went down gun on top of me like a wet sack. I can’t make out now what it was it couldn’t very well of been a shell in those close quarters. Though judging by the wound I’ve got it was the gun they fire then with he threw over and that’s just what it felt like. No sooner was I hit then I thought of getting back but how was what get me with no stretcher bearer out there, so I set off to crawl about 250 yards.
There was no bones broken or fractures so I could get a crawl on but I was bleeding awfully. I went fairly well for a start just 150 yards then I began to give out. I’d just washed the wound thn barded wire of ours whist Fritz was wildly sniping all the while. By the time I got to our first wire I was knocked clean out and wouldn’t crawl through it. Once I got my bad leg caught up and tugged till I thought it would come off but after a lot of trying got through it. I would only go a few yards at a time then it was a spell oh but I know how you all wanted to see me go on so I’d go on again. After a lot more spells and starts I could see by the light of flairs a parapet in front so I set off for it.
I got there and rolled down into the trench or was helped by some of the 45th Battalion, this was our old front line. They had no stretcher but were jolly good to me, they bandaged me up as best as we could and I had a good old spell and intended waiting on the stretcher bearers. When I’d rested there I had a drink and felt very fair again I may have had to wait until daylight for a stretcher and its hardly 80 yards back to an old sunken road where you’re were bound to get some help. So, just like old Gibson, off I went and finally got there, I had to wait awhile for a stretcher but got one at last and was carried in the Advanced Dressing Station (ADS). There was a lot there and old fritzie was lobbing shells all around us and there was me with others lying helpless on a stretcher but I knew he wasn’t going to harm me there so I gotdressed then by better experienced hands and felt alright.
After a lot of carrying I arrived at an ambulance and had a rough old ride with my leg to a casualty cleaning station. I was put straight under an operation to clean it and take out the pieces of metal. They put five tubes into it from the front. This operation itsnt too bad and I went out asleep for 3 or 4 hours. I haven’t seen the wound yet but its on the front and the back of the leg about a foot long, its right to the bone and all the muscles are torn to pieces but its going to be alright so don’t worry. “
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This injury was so severe he was left with a permanent limp, he remained in the London Hospital from the 10th of May till the 18th of January the following year. He finished his service on the 9th of April 1920, with a total of 2 years 156 days on the battle fields of Belgium and France. From his enlistment on the 10th April 1916 to 9th of April 1920 he received 3 medals: Star, British War and Victory medals.
The Australian soldiers throughout the war were always seen to show a special resilience in their endeavours, Edgar even touched on this during another of his messages. He said the people of France, Belgium and England always saw the Australians as having this attitude towards what they did. The Anzacs went about the war as humble soldiers who committed themselves to the fighting and no matter the result, they never question or complained. This is a view shared by many today rightly named Anzac spirit. It is a quality that all the Anzac soldiers showed in World War 1. Edgar being no different also displayed these sort of characteristics, during his time in the hospitals and on the battlefields. He remained in the hospital after recovering, standing guard, finding jobs and helping out. His perseverance also outlines the Anzac spirit, after suffering from 3 sicknesses and 2 gunshot wounds he still managed to fight for the allies for almost 2.5 years of his life on the very battle fields that are immortalised in our history books. Fitting into his spot in history as just another Anzac soldier but with an incredible story from World War 1.

Bibliography
Nation Australian Archives n.d., Moulds Edgar Roy, Australian Government, accessed 29 March 2016, <http://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/SearchScreens/BasicSearch.aspx>.
Australian Infantry Forces n.d., Moulds Edgar Roy, Australian Government, accessed 29 March 2016, <https://aif.adfa.edu.au/showPerson?pid=216290>.
Wikipedia n.d., Battle Of Arras, EN, accessed 29 March 2016, <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Arras_(1917)>.
Wikipedia n.d., Battle Of Messines, EN, accessed 29 March 2016, <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Messines_(1917)>.
Wikipedia n.d., Battle Of Ypres, EN, accessed 29 March 2016, <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Ypres>.
Wikipedia n.d., Operation Michael, EN, accessed 29 March 2016, <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Michael>.
Personal Letters from 1916-1918