APPLETON, Edward Henry
| Service Number: | 1905 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 5th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Brunswick, Victoria, Australia, 22 September 1893 |
| Home Town: | Not yet discovered |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Not yet discovered |
| Died: | Caulfield, Victoria, Australia, 24 January 1946, aged 52 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Fawkner Memorial Park Cemetery, Victoria Rose Urn Garden Companion Rose/Shrub, Position 755 |
| Memorials: | Pakenham Upper Honour Board |
World War 1 Service
| 17 Apr 1915: | Involvement Private, 1905, 5th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '8' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Hororata embarkation_ship_number: A20 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 17 Apr 1915: | Embarked Private, 1905, 5th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Hororata, Melbourne |
Help us honour Edward Henry Appleton's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Arlene CAMPBELL
Gunner Edward Henry Appleton M.M.
Born: 22 September 1893 East Brunswick.
Died: 24 January 1946 – Caulfield
Enlisted: 15 February 1915 aged 21
Served: Egypt, Gallipoli and Western Front.
Also known as "Ted", Edward was the son of Henry Stratford Appleton and Emily Bilston. The Appletons had a 22 acre orchard called Bayview off the Pakenham-Gembrook Rd near Mt Shamrock Rd.
Ted was a 21 years old and working on Bayview when he enlisted on 15 February 1915. A social farewell was held at the Pakenham Upper Mechanics' Institute when Ted and Richard Copeland were leaving for the Army.
Ted served at Gallipoli from June 1915, but was evacuated to hospital in Malta in August due to illness. In October 1918, while serving with the 37th Battery 10th Field Artillery Brigade, Ted earned the prestigious Military Medal (MM) for "conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty" during an attack by the 2nd American Corps near St Souplet on 17 October 1918, which was supported by Australian forces.
Ted was a signaller on duty at the battery control pit during the firing of a barrage by the 37th Battery. Although his position was under heavy enemy fire and his lines and posts shattered, Ted managed to maintain communication with his headquarters. The citation praised Ted for "excellent work" and the "fine example" he set the rest of the Battery.
Just two days later, on 19 October 1918, Ted was gassed with poisonous mustard gas. Ted left England for Australia in January 1919 and was discharged in Melbourne in April 1919. He had served a total of 1401 days in the army.
Ted initially returned to Bayview and in 1920, he was the district champion at the Pakenham Show for "best collection of apples" – Bayview was known for "some of the choicest apples in the district".
The same year, Ted married Daisy Doyle, sister of Jack Doyle of Hillview, Pakenham Upper. Ted and Daisy eventually had four children.
In 1921, Ted applied for a soldier settler block of his own and was successful in obtaining a 637 acre block at Carwarp West, near Mildura. By the 1930s, Ted increasingly suffered from ill health, which he attributed to the gassing he had received back in 1918. He found himself "winded" and unable to do heavy work such as cutting down mallee scrub. Ted forfeited the Carwarp West property in 1936.
Ted and Daisy lost their eldest son Eddie, who died of an infection after scratching his leg on a barbed wire fence, and moved to Langwarrin, where he became a poultry farmer. In 1937, the Appletons suffered the misfortune of having in their modest weatherboard house burn down. By 1940, Ted's health was seriously declining though. He was knocked back by the Army for service during WWII on account of his poor health and he was unable to obtain further employment. Ted died on 24 January 1946 aged only 52 years.
This is an extract from Patrick Ferry's book A Century After The Guns Fell Silent – Remembering the Pakenham District's WWI Diggers 1914-18.