EDGCUMBE, James Adolphus
| Service Number: | 433 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 7th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Healsville, Victoria, Australia, date not yet discovered |
| Home Town: | Emerald, Cardinia, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Healsville College, Victoria, Australia |
| Occupation: | Accountant |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Gallipoli, Turkey, 25 April 1915, age not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Lone Pine Memorial, Gallipoli , Lone Pine Memorial, Gallipoli Peninsula, Canakkale Province, Turkey Panel 28 |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Emerald Avenue of Honour Plaques |
World War 1 Service
| 19 Oct 1914: | Involvement Private, 433, 7th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '9' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Hororata embarkation_ship_number: A20 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 19 Oct 1914: | Embarked Private, 433, 7th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Hororata, Melbourne | |
| 25 Apr 1915: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 7th Infantry Battalion, ANZAC / Gallipoli |
Help us honour James Adolphus Edgcumbe's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Stephen Brooks
James Adolphus Edgcumbe had been among the first Australians to enlist and the first to be killed. The tall 23-year-old accountant signed up on 19 August 1914, a fortnight after war broke out, and embarked with the 7th Battalion two months later. After training and camping in Egypt he was part of the landing at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915. He was shot and killed in the water between his landing boat and the shore.
In the Australian Red Cross Wounded and Missing Files, it is stated “He was hit during the passage of the boat from ship to shore. He was never seen again. Believed to be dead.” 290 Sergeant Major Baker 7th Battalion AIF.
The effect on the family was profound. It was more than a year before his parents and siblings knew his fate. He was at first reported wounded not seriously, but without word from him they seized on the faint hope he had been captured. His distraught family pursued the army and then their parliamentarian for information and clarification, then finally heard that a court of enquiry in France on 5 June 1916 concluded he had been killed in action at the landing on 25 April 1915.