EDWARDS, John Harold McKenzie
| Service Number: | 845 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 6 April 1915 |
| Last Rank: | Lieutenant |
| Last Unit: | 22nd Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Terang, Victoria, Australia, 10 June 1888 |
| Home Town: | Brunswick, Moreland, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Labourer, soldier/army officer |
| Died: | Drowned - due to the sinking of Montevideo Maru , Montevideo Maru, South China Sea, 1 July 1942, aged 54 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" |
| Memorials: |
World War 1 Service
| 6 Apr 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 21st Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 10 May 1915: |
Involvement
AIF WW1, Private, 845, 21st Infantry Battalion, Enlistment/Embarkation WW1, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '13' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Ulysses embarkation_ship_number: A38 public_note: '' |
|
| 10 May 1915: | Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 845, 21st Infantry Battalion, HMAT Ulysses, Melbourne | |
| 9 Dec 1917: | Promoted AIF WW1, Second Lieutenant, 21st Infantry Battalion | |
| 19 Oct 1918: | Transferred AIF WW1, Lieutenant, 22nd Infantry Battalion |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Evan Evans
From AWM Summary
Captain John Harold Mackenzie Edwards MC DCM MM, 21st Battalion of Brunswick, Victoria. Edwards enlisted on 15 April 1915 and became and left Australia as a Sergeant.
An outstanding infantryman, Edwards was retrospectively awarded the Military Medal for an unknown date at Gallipoli (845 Sergeant Jack Harold Edwards). He was also awarded the Distinguish Conduct Medal for his actions at Mouquet on 24/25 August 1916 and at Mouquet Farm on 26 August 1916 (845 Sergeant Harry Edwards). He was further awarded the Military Cross for his actions on 4 July 1918 near Villers Bretonneux (Lieutenant Harold Edwards).
His Military Medal was awarded for his actions on the Gallipoli Peninsula in discovering snipers and machine gun positions. At Mouquet Farm on 24/25 August 1916 he acted with coolness and gallant conduct whilst leading a carrying party three times to a battalion gun post, despite the heavy shelling and being wounded in both legs. This action earned him a Distinguished Conduct Medal. Promoted to the rank of lieutenant, he was awarded a Military Cross for actions on 4 July 1918 when he made a daylight raid and brought a Minenwerfer (mine thrower) back to the Australians, a second (unsuccessful) attempt to collect more, followed by a third raid when he took out three Minenwerfer with Stokes and Mills bombs. He later was promoted to the rank of Captain and returned to Australia on 30 April 1919 a member of the 22nd Battalion.
Edwards was demobilized in Melbourne in August 1919 and served in the permanent army from 1921 to 1923, when he moved to New Guinea where he was employed by Burns Philp & Co. as a native labour overseer at Rabaul. On 13 October 1939 Edwards was appointed a lieutenant in the New Guinea Volunteer Rifles but was not called up for full-time duty. Edwards was officially presumed to have been one of about 200 Australian civilian prisoners of war who died on 1 July 1942 when the Japanese transport, the Montevideo Maru, was torpedoed by an American submarine off Luzon in the South China Sea during its journey from Rabaul to Hainan Island.
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