Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Edwin Clement Tiver was born May 4th, 1896, in Burra South Australia. Burra is located north of Adelaide to the east of Clare. Before going to war Edwin Clement Tiver was an engine cleaner. His mother was Amelia Edith Tiver. Before the war Edwin Clement Tiver was single and did not list in any previous war services.

Tiver joined the army on the 25th of April 1916 and embarked on November 16th. He was 6 feet 1 inches 145lbs (65kg) and had hazel eyes. He joined the 10th Battalion fought near the city Amiens located in France.

Edwin Clement Tiver and the 10th Battalion travelled on the HMAT A19 Afric on 7th of November 1916. HMAT or His Majesty's Australian Transport ships were a fleet of transport ships leased by the Commonwealth government to transport units to their respective destinations. On February 1917 the HMAT Afric was torpedoed and sunk in the English chancel by a German submarine. It was hit on the starboard side near the engine-room causing an explosion. The engineers and greasers on watch at the time were killed.

On the night of Tuesday 6th of June, the 10th Battalion moved to Rouge De Bout. The unit diary described what occurred on the night as follows, “The night sector of firing line Pertillion Sector – From Bond Street near 9 avenue with accordance with operation order attacked we suffered only one casualty who was wounded in the neck. At 1600 enemy severely shelled our night coy a considerable amount of damage was done to at dug out on man slightly wounded.”

On the 17th of February he was hospitalised with tonsilitis. During the month of May, after recovering, he joined base depot in France. October 2nd he was injured in action (gassed) in Belgium where he stood alongside other British, French and Belgium soldiers to fight the Germans in the battle of Broodstiene. This battle lasted 2 days resulting in 1200 deaths for the Allies and 35,000 deaths for the Germans. On October 27th Tiver returned to fight with the Battalion. In December Tiver was sent to signal school until the middle of January when he rejoined his unit. February 1918 Tiver took leave in England and fell sick and was hospitalised again and spent 62 days in hospital. In late April he was discrged but remained in England. According to his service record he returned to signal school to complete different course in June, after another period of time in hospital during May. In August he was again admitted to hospital with VD and went to a few different facilities. On the 6th November he was in trouble with the English police at Malbourough Police Station charged with indecency. However, he must not have been found guilty and was discharged at the end of the war.

Tiver returned from the war in 29th June 1919 and was tragically found with his throat slit at his house in Glandore in 1935 but he later died in hospital. The coroner opted not to look into the circumstances of his death. At some point he married as his wife is mentioned in a newspaper article in 1932 about his mother-in-law. He also had at least one child, a son called Keith Thomas Tiver who was born 2nd July 1922 and who married Slyvia Doreen Kelly on the 1st December 1945.