KIRBY, Edward Ashton
| Service Number: | 710 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 5 October 1914, Place of Enlistment, Townsville, Qld. |
| Last Rank: | Lance Corporal |
| Last Unit: | 15th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Thursday Island, Torres Strait, Queensland, Australia, 26 September 1892 |
| Home Town: | Cairns, Cairns, Queensland |
| Schooling: | Cairns Boys School, Queensland, Australia |
| Occupation: | Butcher |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Gallipoli, Gallipoli, Dardanelles, Turkey, 2 May 1915, aged 22 years |
| Cemetery: |
Quinn's Post Cemetery, ANZAC Quinn's Post Cemetery, Gallipoli Peninsula, Canakkale Province, Turkey |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Cairns Boys' State School, Cairns Cenotaph |
World War 1 Service
| 5 Oct 1914: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Lance Corporal, 710, Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force, Place of Enlistment, Townsville, Qld. | |
|---|---|---|
| 22 Dec 1914: | Involvement Lance Corporal, 710, 17th Infantry Battalion, ANZAC / Gallipoli, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '11' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Ceramic embarkation_ship_number: A40 public_note: '' | |
| 22 Dec 1914: | Embarked Lance Corporal, 710, 17th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Ceramic, Melbourne | |
| 2 May 1915: | Involvement Private, 710, 15th Infantry Battalion, ANZAC / Gallipoli, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 710 awm_unit: 15th Australian Infantry Battalion awm_rank: Private awm_died_date: 1915-05-02 | |
| 7 May 1915: | Wounded AIF WW1, Lance Corporal, 15th Infantry Battalion, ANZAC / Gallipoli |
Roll of Honour Edward Ashton Torrens Kirby.
Cairns Post (Qld. : 1909 - 1954), Saturday 26 June 1915, page 4
THE ROLL OF HONOUR.
Another Cairns name has been added to the long roll of the honored dead-that of Edward Ashton Torrens Kirby, aged 22. Born on Thursday Island he came to Cairns at the early age. and on leaving school en tered the employ of Messrs. W. T. Munro and Co., with whom he remained until the day of his departure for the front. It was his great
ambition to one day become a soldier and see active service. Although fond of all branches of sport he would pass over the account of an International cricket match or some
thrilling boxing contest, to devour
the latest details of fighting in. one . of the annual South American Revol
utions, or even the quelling of some native rising. He was positive that
ÍMseaaesl would one day declare war on the ???????? as he termed them), and he bitterly hated them at all times.
When the Northern Riffe clubs were mobilised on the out
break of war, he promptly joined the Cairns Rifle Club, so that he should not be left out in the cold. He was with the "Kanowna," Expeditionary
Force in New Guinea. and on its disbandment he volunteered for Eur-
ope and left with the Second Contingent.. From letters received him,
just just prior to leaving Egypt for the Dardanelles, it would seem that his fighting spirit was still as strong as ever, and he was eagerly looking forward to the moment when he
would have his long cherished wish and see real fighting. His wish was granted. He participated in one of the most sensational and brilliant achievements in the annals of war fare, that of landind of the Aus
tralasian Troops on Gallipoli Penin sular. Poor Kirby, he wrote hope fully of his return to Cairns at the termination of war, but the fates willed otherwise, "Killed at the
Dardanelles" - could anyone wish
for a nobler death? His late fellow employees and his many Cairn*s friends Join in extending their deepest.synpathy to his sister Mrs Carleton, wife of the Harbor Board's, late Engineer) and his brother (Mr. Stanley Kirby)
Submitted 24 March 2021 by Lynette Turner
Click images to start slideshow.