COULSON, Edmund
| Service Numbers: | 7692, 7692A |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 14 February 1917, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 15th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Rosewood, Queensland, Australia, date not yet discovered |
| Home Town: | Rosewood, Ipswich, Queensland |
| Schooling: | Ashwell Morewood, Queensland, Australia |
| Occupation: | Farmer |
| Died: | Died of wounds, Villers-Bretonneux, France, 9 July 1918, age not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Crouy British Cemetery, Crouy-sur-Somme Plot 111, Row E, Grave 10 |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Kumbia & District Fallen Roll of Honour Memorial, Kumbia WW1 Roll of Honour, Rosewood Shire Council Roll of Honor |
World War 1 Service
| 31 Oct 1915: | Embarked AIF WW1, HMAT A14 Euripides from Sydney | |
|---|---|---|
| 14 Feb 1917: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia | |
| 31 Oct 1917: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 7692, 9th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '9' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Euripides embarkation_ship_number: A14 public_note: '' | |
| 31 Oct 1917: | Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 7692, 9th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Euripides, Sydney | |
| 9 Jul 1918: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 7692A, 15th Infantry Battalion, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 7692A awm_unit: 15th Australian Infantry Battalion awm_rank: Private awm_died_date: 1918-07-09 | |
| Date unknown: | Involvement 15th Infantry Battalion, Battle for Pozières |
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15 Battalion
Rank - Private
4 July 1918 - Wounded in action - severe wounds to abdomen and right thigh
Medals: British War Medal, Victory Medal
Son of Thomas Edward and Elizabeth Coulson of Rosewood, Queensland
Biography contributed by Ian Lang
# 7692 COULSON Edmund 15th Battalion
Edmund Coulson was born to parents Thomas and Elizabeth Coulson at Rosewood west of Ipswich. He attended school at Ashwell and then worked on the family farm. Perhaps lured by the prospect of new farming opportunities, Edmund moved to the Kingaroy district where he farmed at a property called Wakefield.
On 14th February 1917, Edmund presented himself to the recruiting depot at Adelaide Street in Brisbane. He gave his age as 24 years and occupation as farmer. Edmund also revealed that he had been previously rejected for military service due to deafness but the situation in the AIF in early 1917 regarding reinforcements and the failure of the first plebiscite on conscription meant that a condition that had previously excluded Edmund’s enlistment was no longer seen as an impediment to service.
Edmund was initially posted to a depot battalion at Enoggera but after a period of home leave was posted to a Light Trench Mortar School at Seymour in Victoria. A medical examination at the hospital at Broadmeadows recorded Edmund was suffering from a nasal obstruction and deafness and on the strength of this finding was deemed unsuitable for mortar crew. Having spent some time at Seymour, Edmund was posted back to Enoggera where he was allocated to the 26th reinforcements for the 9th Battalion.
On 29th October 1917, Edmund and the reinforcements boarded a troop train to Wallangarra where they then boarded a NSW gauge train for the journey to Sydney, embarking on the “Euripides” on 31st October. The embarkation roll shows that Edmund had named his mother, who was still living at Rosewood, as his next of kin. After a two month sea voyage via South Africa, the reinforcements landed at Devonport near Plymouth on boxing day 1917.
The reinforcements were moved by train to the infantry depot at Sutton Veney where Edmund was allocated as a reinforcement for the 15th Battalion. Following some more training, Edmund took the short ferry crossing of the English Channel from Dover to Calais on 1st April 1918. Two weeks later he was taken on strength by the 15th Battalion.
While Edmund had been in England, the situation on the western front had developed rapidly. The German forces, bolstered by almost 60 divisions of troops released from the Eastern Front, staged a rapid advance on the western front, and in particular against the British 5th Army that was holding the line along the Somme River valley. Within days of the launch of Operation Michael, the gains made by the British and Australians on the Somme in 1916 were retaken, the 5th Army retreated in disarray, and the city of Amiens was threatened. If the city fell, the British would be cut off from their French allies and the Germans could march on Paris and win the war.
In a desperate move to protect Amiens, General Douglas Haig rushed four of the five AIF divisions that were in Belgium south to take up defensive positions astride the Somme. When Edmund joined the 15th, the battalion was holding the line at Hebeuterne. The German advance was finally halted at Villers Bretonneux, within German artillery range of Amiens, in late April. In order to disrupt any further German incursions, the Australian Major General John Monash ordered his frontline troops to actively harass the enemy by active night patrols and trench raids; the so called “peaceful penetration.”
Throughout April and May, the 15th Battalion, as part of the 4th brigade of the 4th Division AIF, engaged in constant night patrols and strengthening defences at Hebeuterne and Villers Bretonneux. On 1st June 1918, Monash was promoted to Lieutenant General and was given command of the entire Australian Corps of five divisions. He immediately began planning a counterattack with the troops at his disposal. Just north of Villers Bretonneux above the village of Hamel, the Germans occupied a series of trenches and observation posts which provided a commanding view of the British and Australian lines.
Monash’s planning for the Battle of Hamel was meticulous. For a week before the attack, the Australian artillery pounded the German positions at around 3:00am every morning. The barrage was a combination of high explosive, gas and smoke. The defenders would put on gas masks and retreat to their underground bunkers. On the day of the attack, 4th April 1918, the artillery fired its normal shoot at 3:10 am but dispensed with the gas shells in favour of additional smoke. As the troops from the 2nd and 4th Divisions of the AIF advanced following the creeping barrage, tanks and aircraft joined the battle. Many enemy troops were captured still in their bunkers wearing gas masks. Monash had allowed 90 minutes for the objectives to be taken; and it was achieved in 93. Although only a limited engagement, Hamel became the blueprint for much larger battles to come that would hasten the end of the war.
The 15th battalion’s objective in the battle was Pear Trench and they were accompanied by 200 men from the 132nd Regiment of the Illinois National Guard as they moved out. Unfortunately, a number of 18 pounder batteries were firing low and the explosive rounds were dropping short, landing among the advancing Australians and Americans. As a result of one such drop short, Edmund sustained a serious shrapnel wound to his abdomen and right thigh. The battle plan included allowance for casualties to be taken quickly from the battlefield and so Edmund was taken by stretcher bearers to the 4th Field Ambulance and then on to the 5thCasualty Clearing Station at Crouy. Edmund died of his wounds on 9th July and was buried at the Crouy Military cemetery with the Reverend Whieler in attendance.
Edmund’s mother received a parcel of his personal effects which included identity discs, wallets, photos, letters, a pipe and a knife. His family chose the flowing inscription for his headstone: THE LORD’S WILL BE DONE R.I.P.