MADELL, Edward Rupert
| Service Number: | 5879 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Second Lieutenant |
| Last Unit: | 1st Field Artillery Brigade |
| Born: | Lithgow, New South Wales, Australia, 18 May 1893 |
| Home Town: | Not yet discovered |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Railway Clerk |
| Died: | Died of wounds, Belgium, 22 August 1917, aged 24 years |
| Cemetery: |
Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery |
| Memorials: | Haymarket NSW Government Railway and Tramway Honour Board |
World War 1 Service
| 9 Nov 1915: | Involvement Gunner, 5879, 1st Field Artillery Brigade, Third Ypres, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '3' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Wandilla embarkation_ship_number: A62 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 9 Nov 1915: | Embarked Gunner, 5879, 1st Field Artillery Brigade, HMAT Wandilla, Melbourne | |
| 5 Jul 1917: | Promoted AIF WW1, Second Lieutenant, 1st Field Artillery Brigade | |
| 22 Aug 1917: | Involvement Second Lieutenant, 1st Field Artillery Brigade, Third Ypres, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: awm_unit: 1st Australian Field Artillery Brigade awm_rank: Second Lieutenant awm_died_date: 1917-08-22 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by John Oakes
Edward Rupert MADELL (Service Number 5879) was born on 18th May 1893 in Lithgow. He began working with the NSW Government Railways on 7th September 1908 as a telephone attendant in the Traffic Branch. He became an apprentice clerk in the Traffic Audit Branch in 1909, a junior clerk in 1911, and a clerk in 1914. He was released from duty with the Railways to enlist in the AIF on 3rd August 1915. He was 23 when he enlisted. He embarked on 9th November 1915 from Melbourne on HMAT A62 ‘Wandilla’.
On 7th December 1915, he was taken on strength of the Suez Road Camp in Egypt. By 6th March 1916, he was taken on strength of the 21st Howitzer Brigade. He proceeded to join the British Expeditionary Forces from Alexandria on 25th March 1916 and disembarked at Marseilles on 1st April.
He joined the Royal Artillery Cadet School in St John’s Wood, London, on 15th February 1917. On 5th July 1917, he was made a Second Lieutenant, and was posted to Artillery Reinforcements. He proceeded overseas to France from England on 18th July 1917 and marched into Havre two days later.
By 1st August 1917, he was transferred to the 2nd Field Artillery Brigade, and was taken on strength the same day. He was not in the field long before he was injured in action. This occurred in Belgium on 11th August 1917. He was admitted the following day for a shrapnel wound to his right shoulder but was discharged to duty on that same day.
He was injured for a second time on 22nd August. One account says he was:
‘……. wounded by 4.2” shell which burst in dugout… Nature of wound – through chest, abdomen, arm, and left thigh’.
Unfortunately, this time, the wounds would prove fatal, killing him on 22nd August 1917. He was in Zillebeke, Belgium, and was 24-years-old when he died. He was buried at Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery, Lijssenthoek, Flanders, Belgium.
After his death, his mother, who was his next of kin, was sent his medals – the 1914/15 Star, the British War Medal, and the Victory Medal.
- based on the Australian War Memorial Honour Roll and notes for the Great Sydney Central Station Honour Board.