DE JONG, Edward Meyer
| Service Number: | 173 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 10th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Manchester, England, 2022 |
| Home Town: | Not yet discovered |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Commercial Traveller |
| Memorials: |
World War 1 Service
| 20 Oct 1914: | Involvement Private, 173, 10th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '10' embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: HMAT Ascanius embarkation_ship_number: A11 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 20 Oct 1914: | Embarked Private, 173, 10th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Ascanius, Adelaide |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by St Ignatius' College
Edward De Jong Myer was born May 1892 in Manchester, England. His father was DR E.M. De Jong, but no records of his mother were discovered. When he was living in England, he was a part of the Anglican religion. Before enrolling in the Australian military, he was a commercial traveller and lived in England with his father but moved to Adelaide a few months before enlisting in the war.
His enlistment date was the 28th of August 1914 in Adelaide, South Australia. His enlistment records and papers stated he was a 22-year-old, 68kg, red haired, blue eyed male. Throughout his service he was ranked a private. He embarked the A11 Ascanius on 20 October 1914 and travelled for two months. This time would’ve been tough for any soldier. Only five soldiers were recorded on the ship when it left but it was said that many jumped the ship during the night of December the 5th 1914. When arriving at war, he was able to join the 10th Infantry Battalion. It was never listed where he was fighting, but wherever it was it wasn’t for a long time because of leave and being ill multiple times.
Throughout his two years and 241 days of service, he fell sick many times. The first time was on the 20th of February 2014 for Influenza. Following this, he was admitted to hospital on the 8/6/15, 24/8/15 and 13/9/15 all for Dysentery. Dysentery is a severe case of diarrhoea which can be caused by bad hygiene measures. Even just sitting in the trenches for a while would affect your cleanliness. In July 1915, Edward and many others from his battalion were ill with dysentery, influenza, and any other infectious diseases. Between jumping from one hospital to another and serving for less than a month, he went AWOL for a period in his service.
He was granted leave after being ill several times and went home to England. While in England, he got married and bought a house in Hull which he shared with his wife. Once his father was to pass, his wife would become his next of kin.
After his leave was over, he never returned to the Australian army until the Lieutenants in his Battalion wrote letters to his father about the situation. His father was embarrassed of Edward and never really spoke to him again. Going AWOL in the war was a big deal and in other countries, consequences like death would apply but in Australia, it was different. Edward tried to avoid consequences by telling the Australian army he applied for the British Imperial Services while at home in England. He had thought that he had been decommissioned from the Australian forces but instead he was just on leave. Edward stated that he didn’t return because he was awaiting a letter informing him if he was excepted or not. To also make his case more liable, he said that his service contract was almost over which helped him to appear less guilty. Although he could have been lying, the Australian Military services couldn’t find enough evidence or information about the case to send him to court.
After this series of events, he applied for discharge so he could potentially join the British Imperial Services this time. His request got excepted and he was discharged in England and granted commission in the Imperial Army on the 25th of April 1917. He then started serving for the British services and his service in the Australian Services were over.