TAYLOR, Edmund Barton
| Service Number: | 2242 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 45th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Coonamble, New South Wales, Australia, 20 December 1884 |
| Home Town: | Coonamble, Coonamble, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Railway Permanent Way (Track) Worker, Platelayer |
| Died: | Died of wounds, France, 5 May 1918, aged 33 years |
| Cemetery: |
Vignacourt British Cemetery, Picardie |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Haymarket NSW Government Railway and Tramway Honour Board |
World War 1 Service
| 22 Aug 1916: | Involvement Private, 2242, 45th Infantry Battalion , --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '19' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Wiltshire embarkation_ship_number: A18 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 22 Aug 1916: | Embarked Private, 2242, 45th Infantry Battalion , HMAT Wiltshire, Sydney | |
| 7 Jun 1917: | Wounded AIF WW1, Private, 2242, 45th Infantry Battalion , A gunshot to his left leg. After time at the 11th Canadian Casualty Clearing Station, the 58th Section General Hospital and the 7th Convalescent Depot at Boulogne he did not re-join the 45th Battalion until 22 September. | |
| 3 May 1918: | Wounded AIF WW1, Private, 2242, 45th Infantry Battalion , Shrapnel causing a compound fracture to his right lower leg and buttock. He was admitted to the 12th Australian Field Ambulance, and then the 61st Casualty Clearing Station where he died of wounds two days later, on 5th May 1918. |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by John Oakes
Edmund Barton TAYLOR (Service Number 2242) was born on 20th December 1884 at Coonamble. He was a "temporary" labourer in the Permanent Way Branch in the Sydney District, commencing on 8th October 1909. He was still in this role when he was released from duty to join the Expeditionary Forces on 9th March 1916. Taylor had enlisted at St Peters a couple of weeks earlier, describing his ‘trade or calling as ‘Platelayer’ and giving his wife Norah Catherine living in Tempe as his next of kin.
He was allotted to the 4th Battalion. He embarked HMAT ‘Wiltshire’ at Sydney on 22nd August 1916, reaching Plymouth (England) on 13th October. In England he joined the 12th Training Brigade at Codford.
He spent two weeks in hospital with an unspecified ailment in February 1917. In March he proceeded overseas to France and joined the 45th Battalion on 6th April.
Taylor was wounded in action on 7th June with a gunshot to his left leg. He spent time at the 11th Canadian Casualty Clearing Station, the 58th Section General Hospital and the 7th Convalescent Depot at Boulogne. He did not re-join the 45th Battalion until 22nd September.
Less than three weeks later he was hospitalised again with what was described as ‘shell shock and nervous exhaustion’. The treatment for this led to admission to the 3rd Australian Field Ambulance, the 15th Casualty Clearing Station, No. 12 General Hospital and No. 2 Convalescent Depot at Rouen. He could not re-join the Battalion until 1st March 1918. Only two weeks later he was granted leave in England until 3rd April.
He was wounded on a third occasion on 3rd May with shrapnel causing a compound fracture to his right lower leg and buttock. He was admitted to the 12th Australian Field Ambulance, and then the 61st Casualty Clearing Station. He died of wounds two days later, on 5th May 1918.
Pte A K Birks (2333) reported:
‘Tall, going gray. Called “Ted”. Just back from Blighty leave. Received a G.S.W in the leg and another in the head. Locality at the Villers Bretonneux Railway Station. It was not in a stunt. He was running out of a dugout for better shelter. He was taken to Dressing Station.’
Taylor was buried in the Vignacourt British Cemetery eight miles NNW of Amiens.
Pensions were awarded to his widow Norah Catherine (£2 per fortnight), and to his children, Joseph Patrick (£1 per fortnight), Margaret Mary (15/- per fortnight), and Ronald Sydney (10/- per fortnight) from 10th July 1918.
The address given by Norah in the years immediately after the war was ‘Villers Bret’, 71 Brown Street, St Peters.
- based on the Australian war Memorial Honour Roll and notes for the Great Sydney Central Station Honour Board.