Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Son of Tom and Matilda Green of London, England; brother of Tom Green of Eukey, Stanthorpe and Maud Green of London

2 June 1915 - demoted to Private

4 February 1917 - transferred as Prisoner of War from Bilemedic, Turkey to Afion Karahissar (Camp 2165), Turkey as per the Ottoman Red Crescent List

15 September 1917 - repoted to have been transferred from Afion Karahissar to Yozgad, Turkey(Asia Minor) although the exact date of transfer is unclear

Medals: 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal

Edgar Green was born in Clapham, England in February 1891. He was the son of Tom and Matilda Green (both deceased) and had two known siblings, Tom and Maud, but it is inferred in correspondence that he had others. It appears Edgar emigrated to Australia around 1913 and his brother, Tom was also living in Australia near Stanthorpe, South West of Brisbane. At the outbreak of the Great War, Edgar was a qualified stenographer and enlisted in Townsville, Queensland on the 25th of January 1915. He was allocated to the 4th reinforcements of the 15th Australian Infantry Battalion, 1st AIF. Edgar’s attestation papers describe him as standing five feet six inches tall, with a dark complexion, brown eyes and black hair.

Edgar completed some training at Enoggera Camp and was even briefly promoted to acting Corporal for 24 hours before reverting to Private. Edgar went home to his brother Tom’s house in Stanthorpe on pre-embarkation leave and whilst home he compiled his Last Will and Testament in which he:

“……Appoint my sister Maude Green of 22 Langham Street West in the city of London, England the sole Executrix of this my will. I give and devise and bequeath all my real and personal estate whatsoever and wheresoever unto my said sister Maude upon trust to divide the same equally amongst my sisters and brothers (including my said sister Maud) as shall be living at my death………”

Edgar embarked from Brisbane on the 8th of April 1915 aboard the troopship HMAT A15 STAR OF ENGLAND, he was again promoted to the rank of Temporary Corporal for the journey to Egypt. As Edgar was amongst a group of reinforcements with no pre-structured Chain of Command, his promotion was likely only due to his superiors needing someone to pass messages through and to be the spokesperson for his ‘section’ of troops.  The 4th Reinforcements arrived in Egypt on the 15th of May 1915 and after a period of acclimatisation and training, embarked for Gallipoli, arriving and joining the 15th Battalion on the 2nd of June 1915. Edgar, his duty done, then reverted to the rank of Private.

After two months of fierce fighting, Edgar and the 15th Battalion, took part in the battle for Hill 971, or Koja Chemen Tepe. This point on Gallipoli was the highest point on the Sari Bair Ridge. The 15th Battalion, as part of the 4th Infantry Brigade, was tasked with capturing the high ground. The attack commenced on the 6th of August 1915 but by the 8th of August the attack had stalled and then failed.  It was during the general withdrawal on the 8th of August, that Edgar ran into trouble. He was part of a group of men separated from his Battalion and trying to make their way back down the ridge to the Australian defensive lines. The group became lost in the numerous steep and hidden gullies and ended up veering off the edge of a steep embankment, falling six metres into an overgrown gully. As the group attempted to find a new route they ran into a superior force of Turkish soldiers and were forced to surrender. In the general reconstitution of the Battalion, Edgar was reported wounded and missing and was eventually reported a prisoner of the Turks.

Edgar was marched off to Constantinople and captivity. He was moved through various POW camps including Bozanti (April 1916), Belemedik (July 1916), back to Constantinople (April 1917), Afion Kara Hisar (August 1917), and finally Yozgad.  Yozgad, now known as Yozgat, is in the central Anatolia region of Turkey about 650 kilometres South East of Constantinople.  There was no barbed wire around the camp as it was considered by the Turks to be inescapable due to the mountainous terrain, infestations of bandits, and unpredictable weather. Due to the supposed inescapable nature of the camp, the Turks generally treated the prisoners at Yozgad a little better than most.

His Next of Kin, Tom, was notified that Edgar was a POW by the AIF via telegram in September 1915 but did not receive any more details until after he had written to the AIF requesting a means to correspond with Edgar. In October 1915 an address was provided for correspondence via the American Ambassador in Constantinople. He was also informed that Edgar had been wounded, although some documents state that he was wounded in the leg and others in the left hand.

on the 25th of March 1916 an article appeared on page 37 of The Queenslander, a regional newspaper, stating that prisoners of the Turks were to be exchanged.   The article read:

BRITISHERS IN TURKEY

London March 14.

Mr H.J. Tennant (Under Secretary for War) stated in the House of Commons today that arrangements were being made for the exchange of all British prisoners in Turkey. [The following members of Queensland units of the Australian Imperial Force are prisoners of war in Turkey……

Edgar’s name was listed. This prompted his Brother on the 14th of April 1916, to write to the AIF to ask if the exchange was true:

“Dear Sir, in some of the daily papers I notice it is reported that my brother No. 1705 Corporal Edgar Green, 15th Battalion, Prisoner of War in Turkey is to be exchanged. I should be glad to know if this is correct and where he will be probably sent to. Thanking you in anticipation,

yours faithfully,

Tom Green”

The AIF replied with:

“Dear Sir, In reply to your letter dated 14th instant, concerning your brother No. 1705 Corporal E. Green, 15th Battalion, who is a prisoner of war in Constantinople, you are informed there is no official report that this soldier is to be exchanged. Should such information come to hand at a later date you will be promptly notified”

Why the report of exchange was published or indeed why the exchange did not occur is unknown, what is very sad is that in the list of 26 soldiers published, at least 10 of them were known to have perished as prisoners before the end of the war. If only they had been exchanged.

Additionally, Edgar had reverted to the rank of Private Soldier upon arrival at Gallipoli however military records took a while to catch up and as such he was still being referred to as ‘Corporal Green’.

Edgar did manage to correspond with his loved ones and did receive some care packages. A number of extracts from postcards survive in the Red Cross files. One such postcard from August 1918 simply read:

“Interned Zozgad – Have just received two parcels from you. The Havelock plug tobacco is worth its weight in gold, and articles of food are just what we could wish for”

During his internment he would have been working on stages of the Berlin-Baghdad railway. Three long years of captivity in appalling living conditions took their toll on Edgar and in October 1918 he contracted the Spanish Influenza that was sweeping the world. On the 10th of October 1918, Edgar succumbed to the disease and was buried in grave number ten of the British Military cemetery at Yozgad. He was 25 years old. Due to the prevalence of disease this camp was moved to Smyrna, 800 kilometres to the East on the Aegean Coast, before the winter set in.

Edgar was awarded the 1914/15 Star, the British War Medal, and the Victory Medal. These were all sent to his brother Tom as Next of Kin.

In 1927 Edgar’s body was exhumed and moved to Baghdad’s North Gate Cemetery in a general consolidation of war graves from throughout Turkey and Iraq. In 2019, his headstone was in very good condition, sitting on a concrete foundation and surrounded by native Iraqi wildflowers.