MORRIS, Edgar Athling
| Service Number: | 4736 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 23 November 1915, Casula, New South Wales |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 20th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Kempsey, New South Wales, Australia, 24 January 1892 |
| Home Town: | Bankstown, Bankstown, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Arakoon Public School, New South Wales, Australia |
| Occupation: | Shunter |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Belgium, 9 October 1917, aged 25 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Menin Gate Memorial, Ypres, Flanders, Belgium |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Haymarket NSW Government Railway and Tramway Honour Board, Menin Gate Memorial (Commonwealth Memorial to the Missing of the Ypres Salient) |
World War 1 Service
| 23 Nov 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 4736, Casula, New South Wales | |
|---|---|---|
| 13 Apr 1916: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 4736, 20th Infantry Battalion, Enlistment/Embarkation WW1, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '13' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Ceramic embarkation_ship_number: A40 public_note: '' | |
| 13 Apr 1916: | Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 4736, 20th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Ceramic, Sydney | |
| 9 Oct 1917: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 4736, 20th Infantry Battalion, Battle of Poelcapelle |
Help us honour Edgar Athling Morris's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by John Edwards
"...4736 Private Edgar Athling Morris, 20th Battalion, of Bankstown, NSW. A railway shunter prior to enlistment, Pte Morris embarked with the 12th Reinforcements from Sydney on HMAT Ceramic on 13 April 1916. On 9 October 1917 Pte Morris was killed in action whilst carrying out duties as a stretcher bearer at Daisy Wood, between Zonnebeke and Passchendaele, Belgium, aged 25. He has no known grave and is commemorated at the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, Belgium." - SOURCE (www.awm.gov.au)
"Mrs. A. .Osten, of Brushgrove, on Monday, received word that her nephew, Private Edgar Morris, son of ex-constable W. R. Morris, of the Macleay River, had been killed in action. Prior to enlisting he had been employed in the Railway Department" - from the Grafton Daily Examiner 21 Nov 1917 (nla.gov.au)
"Mr. R. W. Morris, of Bankstown (before retirement constable at Tinonee), has received word that his son, Private Edgar A. Morris, was killed in action on October 9. The late soldier was 26 years of age, a native of the Macleay and at time of enlisting was employed in the railway service." - from the Taree Northern Champion 28 Nov 1917 (nla.gov.au)
Biography contributed by John Oakes
Edgar Athling MORRIS (Service Number 4736) was born at Frederickton near Kempsey about December 1892. He worked as a shunter for the NSW Railways.
He enlisted at Casula on 14th December 1915. At first, he nominated his mother, living at Marion Street, Central Bankstown as his next of kin, but at some stage this was changed to his father. His papers include an unusual annotation, (in red ink), that ‘In event of death advise [next of kin] directly & not through clergyman.’
Morris embarked HMAT ‘Ceramic’ at Sydney on 14th April 1916. There is no record of an arrival in Egypt, but by 29 May 1916 he must have re-embarked HMT ‘Megantic’ in the Mediterranean, for he is shown as ‘contact isolated’, and then on 7 June ‘Discharged from Isolation’. He must have had a contagious disease. Some further time was spent in training in England before he proceeded overseas to France on 9th September and joined the 20th Battalion in Belgium on 2nd October 1916. After a month in the field he was admitted to the 5th Field Ambulance with Trench Feet and evacuated to England via the 1st Australian General Hospital, the Hospital Ship ‘Asturius’ and then passed through No. 1 Command Depot, Perham Downs; No. 4 Command Depot, Wareham and No. 3 Command Depot, Hurdcott.
It was 25th June 1917 before he was fit again and 17th July before he re-joined the 20th Battalion.
Morris was killed in action on 9th October 1917. Private W.A. Hubbard (4699) reported:
‘He was short, medium build and dark, we called him “Darkie”. He was killed outright by a shell at Passchendaele early in October 1917. I did not see it happen but was told about it the same evening by a mate of his and mine in “D” Company who told me he saw “Darkie” Morris killed outright by a shell. We held this position and a burying party went out early the next morning. This was near a big swamp (? Zonnebeke Lake). The man who told me (in answer to my special queries) knew Darkie and seemed certain of what he told me.’
His commanding Officer stated:
‘This soldier was killed whilst carrying out his duty as a stretcher bearer on 9th October last in an attack made by the Battalion on the German position near Daisy Wood, situated between the village of Zonnebeke and Passchendaele Ridge, Ypres Sector, Belgium. As far as can be ascertained this soldier was killed instantaneously, being hit by several pieces of shell mostly about the body. There is no record of the body ever being buried.’
Morris indeed has no known grave and is remembered on the Menin Gate Memorial, Ypres, Belgium.
There were reports to Morris’ parents that he had been awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal, including one from his platoon Sergeant who had returned to Australia wounded and who had, he asserted, passed the recommendation through his hands. There is no record of such an award in any surviving file.
- based on the Australian War Memorial Honour Roll and notes for the Great Sydney Central Station Honour Board.
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