Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

From François Berthout

Pte  2661 Edward Duncan Hood 
29th Australian Infantry Battalion,
8th Brigade, 5th Australian Division,
 
In the fields of the Somme, grow row after row, the poppies of remembrance which undulate between the rows of thousands of white graves, the last resting places of thousands of young men whose lives were taken too early in the prime of their lives in the trenches of the great war where they served and fought with bravery and honor for their country and for France and who, for peace, for the future of humanity and for freedom gave their today, their lives, their everything and which here, on these sacred grounds, will always be remembered and honored with respect so that their sacrifices and their lives are never forgotten and so that their names, in the stone, in our hearts and through the poppies live forever.

Today, it is with the deepest respect and gratitude that I would like to honor the memory of one of these young men, one of my boys of the Somme who paid the supreme sacrifice.I would like to pay a very respectful tribute to Private number 2661 Edward Duncan Hood who fought in the 29th Australian Infantry Battalion, 8th Brigade, 5th Australian Division, and who was killed in action 105 years ago, on October 27, 1916 at the age of 25 on the Somme front.

Edward Duncan Hood, who was affectionately known as "Dunk" was born in 1891 in Cannum, near Warracknabeal, Victoria, Australia, and was the son of James and Margaret Hood. He was educated at Portarlington State School, Victoria and before the outbreak of the war, married Phoebe Grace Hood, had two daughters, Pearl Grace Hood, Margaret Elisa Hood who was affectionately called "Merle", and a son, Edward Alfred Hood who was called "Ted". The family lived in Mannerim , Greater Geelong, Victoria, where Edward worked as a labourer.

Edward enlisted on January 31, 1916 at Geelong, Victoria, in the 29th Australian Infantry Battalion, 5th Reinforcement, a battalion which was raised at Broadmeadows Camp, Victoria, on August 10, 1915 and which was under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Alfred Bennett, an officer who had already over 20 years' experience of service.Edward followed a one and a half month period of training at Broadmeadows Camp and embarked with his unit from Melbourne, Victoria, on board HMAT A68 Anchises,on March 14, 1916 and sailed for Egypt.
On April 15, 1916, Edward arrived in Egypt and was disembarked at Suez and fought courageously for the protection of the Suez Canal against Ottoman forces then two months later, on June 21, 1916, alongside the men of the 29th Australian Infantry Battalion, he joined the BEF (British Expeditionary Force) in Alexandria and embarked on board "Ivernia" and proceeded overseas for France.

On June 29, 1916, after a short trip on the Mediterranean Sea without incident, Edward and the 29th Australian Infantry Battalion arrived in France and were disembarked in Marseilles then were transported by train to Hazebrouk which they reached on July 8 then marched for two days in difficult conditions to join the front in the sector of Bois Grenier and on July 10 took positions between Boutillerie and Cordonnerie then on July 14, left Bois Grenier and marched for Fleurbaix, relieved the 13th Australian Infantry Battalion and on July 19, first day of the Battle of Fromelles, took part in an attack to capture and hold the Delangre Farm which was held by the 21st Bavarian Reserve Infantry Regiment. Following the attack, the battalion held the line for another 11 days, beating off a particularly heavy German counterattack on July 20, before they were eventually relieved. During their introduction to trench warfare, the 29th Battalion lost 52 men killed in action, and another 164 men wounded.

A few weeks later, in early August, Edward and the men of the 29th Australian Infantry Battalion were billeted at Bac St Maur where they worked to rebuild old front lines then on August 16, relieved the 31st Australian Infantry Battalion at Fleurbaix and followed a period of training and the following month, on September 21, marched for Armentieres, joined Houplines on September 28 then Bailleul on October 17, Bussus on October 18 and on October 20, 1916, joined the front of the Somme in Amiens where they embarked on motor lorries and were sent to Buire-Sur-Ancre and Mametz Wood on October 21 and the following day, joined the trenches at Flers under heavy fire from German artillery.On October 22 at Flers, Edward was alongside his comrades in the "Crest Trench" and fought in terrible conditions, without food, without supplies and under the howl of the Australian and German artillery.it is written in the war diary of the 29th Australian Infantry Battalion that the only water the men could drink was in shell holes and unfortunately it was in Flers, on October 27, 1916 that Edward met his fate and was killed in action, probably by shellfire during the preparation for an attack by the 5th Australian Division on the enemy trench system in front of the Transloy.He was 25 years old.

Today Edward Duncan "Dunk" Hood rests in peace with his friends, comrades and brothers in arms at Caterpillar Valley Cemetery, Somme, and his grave bears the following inscription: "His name shall live for ever."

On the back of the photo that was carried by Edward during his service, it is written:"Dear Dunk, I am sending you a photo, dont laugh at it. We have all have a good laugh at it. This is the best one, the others are awful. Let me know when you get it. I hope you receive it safe and don't get a fright. I think it is awful."

Edward had a brother who served during the great war, Private number 3355 Joseph Lachlan Hood who fought in the 8th Australian Infantry Battalion, unfortunately he was killed in action in the Somme, in Pozieres on August 18, 1916 at the age of 20 and his body was never found.Today his name is remembered and honored with respect at the Australian National memorial in Villers-bretonneux alongside the names of 10,885 Australian soldiers who fell in the Somme and northern France and who have no known graves.
Edward, you who were so young, it was in the prime of your life, for your country, your wife and your children that you answered the call to duty to offer them a future, to do your bit, your part in this great war in which so many lives were lost but with pride and fearlessness, with conviction you joined your comrades, your brothers in arms who behind the drums, the bagpipes and the bugles marched with the deep desire to fight for peace and freedom and all took a step forward to reach the trenches, the fields of northern France, a country they did not know but for which they did and gave so much through the poppy fields in which they fought side by side in the most beautiful spirit of mateship, a mateship which forged the legend of the ANZAC spirit which has never ceased to live and which through the words honor, gallanterie, perseverance, bravery, determination, solidarity, humor, are the definitions of what the Australian soldiers were and of what they will always be for us in the Somme, they were exceptional men, heroes who will always have all our respect and admiration and over whom I will always watch so that what they did for us beyond bravery in Amiens, Villers-Bretonneux, Pozieres, Flers, Gueudecourt, Bazentin, be never forgotten through the words which are inscribed on the schools of the Somme, "Do not forget Australia", their names, here, alive forever, will always be remembered with love, we will never forget what they went through in the trenches, in the mud of the Somme where they stood with honor alongside their French brothers in arms who had for these young men from Australia a deep admiration for their courage and a sincere love for men that they were and who, in those dark hours forged the most beautiful friendship which is today stronger than ever, a friendship which is for us in the Somme, for me, an honor and a pride because this friendship was the light in the darkness of the a war which brought men together and which kept them strong and united to move forward together for the peace in which we live and for which they gave their lives under the fire of machine guns and shells which swept and mowed down a whole generation of men who lived, fought and fell shoulder to shoulder through barbed wire and shell holes.They were young, they were brave and on the battlefields fought like lions who never backed down and who faced their fears, their fates, the dangers of no man's land alongside their friends who did more than their duty under fire, they made their country proud but were thousands who never returned home and who left behind families broken by the brutality of the war and who, for many of these families, wives and children, sisters and mothers, never had the consolation of going to the graves of their loved ones to tell them how much their sons, their husbands were loved but their men will never be alone, they will never be forgotten because I will always be there to watch over them, to tell who they were and what they did, to bring them back to life, so that they live forever.Thank you so much Edward, Joseph, for everything, from the bottom of my heart, the Somme will never forget.At the going down of the sun and in the morning,we will remember them. 

1. Edward Duncan Hood was born at Warracknabeal, Victoria, in 1891, and was working as a labourer at Mannerim, near Queenscliff, before joining the AIF.

A married man with three young children, he nevertheless enlisted in January 1916, becoming Private 2661, a member of the 5th Reinforcements to 29 Infantry Battalion.

He sailed from Australia in April 1916 and joined his unit in France in August of the same year. Only two months later he was killed, probably by shellfire near the ruined town of Gueudecourt (Flers), during the preparation for an attack by the 5th Australian Division on the enemy trench system in front of le Transloy.

Edward Hood is buried at Caterpillar Valley Cemetery, about 4 kilometres south west of the area where he was killed.

Source: AWM

2. Re Main photo:

The photograph is on postcard paper with the message:

'Dear Dunk, I am sending you a photo, dont laugh at it. We have all have a good laugh at it. This is the best one, the others are awful. Let me know when you get it. I hope you receive it safe and don't get a fright. I think it is awful.'

The image has been annotated, with pencil overwritten in blue, to identify family member. This appears to have been done by one of Hood's children. The photograph shows (left to right) Pearl Grace Hood (daughter), Phoebe Grace Hood (wife, listed as 'Mum') with Margaret Elisa Hood on her lap (daughter, listed as 'Merle'), Edward Alfred Hood (son, listed as 'Ted') and Edward Duncan Hood (listed as 'Dad').

This photograph appears to have been carried by Hood during his service. His service records a photograph, presumably this one, as being returned to his widow after Hood's death in 1916 with several other personal items.

Source: AWM

3. Family/military connections:

Brother: 3355 Pte Joseph Lachlan HOOD, 8th Bn, killed in action, 18 August 1916.