GUIGNION, Edward Gordon
| Service Number: | 14159 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 24 January 1916 |
| Last Rank: | Sapper |
| Last Unit: | 1st Divisional Signal Company |
| Born: | Charlotte Place Norwood South Australia, 15 December 1893 |
| Home Town: | Norwood (SA), South Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Cabinet Maker |
| Died: | Natural causes, South austalia, 27 October 1944, aged 50 years |
| Cemetery: |
AIF Cemetery, West Terrace Cemetery, Adelaide, South Australia |
| Memorials: | Adelaide Torrens Rowing Club Roll of Honour |
World War 1 Service
| 24 Jan 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Sapper, 1st Divisional Signal Company | |
|---|---|---|
| 11 Apr 1916: | Involvement Sapper, 14159, 5th Divisional Signal Company, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '6' embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: HMAT Aeneas embarkation_ship_number: A60 public_note: '' | |
| 11 Apr 1916: | Embarked Sapper, 14159, 5th Divisional Signal Company, HMAT Aeneas, Adelaide | |
| 12 May 1919: | Involvement AIF WW1, Sapper, 1st Divisional Signal Company |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Pham Thomas An-Thien
Edward Gordon Guignion
Edward Guignion was born on the 15th of December 1893. He was born to Mary Jane and Joseph Henry Guignion in Charlotte Place, Norwood, South Australia. Before he enlisted, he was a cabinet maker who was single.
Edward enlisted for the army in Keswick Adelaide on the 24th of January 1916 at the age of 22 and a half. He got sent to the C Company 2nd Depot Battalion from the 24th of January 1916 to the 31st of January 1916 where he was a private. The C Company 2nd Depot Battalion was a exhibition camp where they got their health checked and got ready for war. He then went to signal school from the 1st of February 1916 to the 31st of March 1916. He joined the 2/5th divisional signal company on the 1st of April on the 1916 where he became a sapper. A sapper is a private but in the engineering battalion. He then left Australia on the 11th of April 1916 on board the HMAT A60 Aenas which arrived in Tel-el-Kebir in Egypt on the 18 of May 1916.
He then joined the engineers training depot training section on the 24th of May where he got allocated to the 5th Divisional Signal Company Base Depot. He then went on an embarkation to the BEF (British Expeditionary Force) on the 7th of June 1916 in Alexandria France. He disembarked from the BEF on the 15th of June 1916 to Marseilles France. He then proceeded to England on the 29th of August 1916. He then marched from France to the Engineers training depot on the 2nd of September 1916.
After a while, he proceeded overseas to the Abbeville France, signals depot from Folkestone England on the 2nd of the April 1917. Abbeville at that time was where the commonwealth communications headquarters. There were also hospitals based there where Edward happened to be in because he was sick. The hospitals started getting used a lot when the battle of Somme happened. The injured and ill came there to get treated. The Somme offensive also known as the battle of Somme was a battle which was fought between 1 July and 18 November 1916. It happened along the Somme Valley in France. It was one of the most bloodiest and largest battle of WW1. On the first day, the British had 57,000 casualties and by the end of it all, more than 1.5 million men died. The battle was an offensive battle but it was a total disaster. Britain underestimated German defences which ultimately made them lose. Australia’s contribution was in the fighting happening around Pozieres and Mouquet farm between the 23rd of July to the 3rd of September. The training depot marched in exercise at Abbeville on the 4th of April 1917. He was then admitted to hospital sick on the 14th of April 1917 in Abbeville. He then recovered and re-joined the signals depot from the hospital on the 1st of May 1917. They then marched out to the 1st divisional signal corps on the 22nd of May 1917.
Edward left Abbeville to go to the UK on the 28th of October 1918. He was admitted to hospital sick on the 18th of February 1919 but re-joined the 1st Australian Infantry Brigade on the 9th of March 1919. Edward then marched out to England on the 3rd of April 1919 and he returned to Australia from Devonport England on the 12th of May 1919. He died on the 27th of October 1944 at the age of 50. He is buried at the AIF Cemetery, West Terrace, Adelaide, South Australia. He received the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.
Edward Gordon Guignion is a true ANZAC. He served the army for three years and did a lot of moving. He ran signal lines which was a very scary and dangerous job. They had to run across the battle field to put communication lines down which makes them an easy target. They also had to fix lines they were broken. The lines either got shot by a bullet and just stopped working. This is a very hard job because they do not know where the lines been broken. Once they find the breakage, they have to fix it which is very dangerous. If the army did not have any communication, it would be a nightmare to try and win a war.
Bibliography
http://www.ww1cemeteries.com/ww1frenchcemeteries/abbeville.htm
https://www.awm.gov.au/military-event/E158/
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-i/battle-of-the-somme
https://www.aif.adfa.edu.au/search
https://www.awm.gov.au/people/roll-search
http://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/
https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/awm4/
https://www.awm.gov.au/people/roll-search
http://www.catalog.slsa.sa.gov.au/search/X
https://www.awm.gov.au/glossary/
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