RATTRAY, Edgar Roland
| Service Number: | 9438 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 26 October 1915, Perth, Western Australia |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 12th Field Ambulance |
| Born: | Addington, Surrey, England, 12 February 1886 |
| Home Town: | Perth, Western Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Civil servant |
| Died: | Natural causes (after long illness), Perth, Western Australia, 21 April 1949, aged 63 years |
| Cemetery: |
Karrakatta Cemetery & Crematorium, Western Australia |
| Memorials: | West Perth Public Works Department of Western Australia Honour Roll |
World War 1 Service
| 26 Oct 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 9438, Perth, Western Australia | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Mar 1916: | Involvement AIF WW1, Corporal, 9438, 4th Field Ambulance, Enlistment/Embarkation WW1, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '22' embarkation_place: Fremantle embarkation_ship: HMAT Ulysses embarkation_ship_number: A38 public_note: '' | |
| 1 Mar 1916: | Embarked AIF WW1, Corporal, 9438, 4th Field Ambulance, HMAT Ulysses, Fremantle | |
| 10 Aug 1916: | Transferred AIF WW1, Private, 12th Field Ambulance | |
| 28 May 1919: | Discharged AIF WW1, Private, 9438, 12th Field Ambulance |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by James Stewart-Rattray
Edgar Roland Rattray was born in Addington, Surrey on 12 February 1886. His father, Charles Rattray was a School Master and Principal Organist at a local school. Edgar was well educated and became a solicitor's clerk in 1901. His mother, Mary Elizabeth Rattray died in 1897 when Edgar was 10 years old.
In March 1911, Edgar left London on the steamship "Ophir" bound for Fremantle. He arrived in May of that year and shortly after recived news that his father, Charles, had died. Edgar remained in Perth and settled down, unmarried, and worked as a Civil Servant in the Public Works Department until the outbreak of war in 1914.
In October 1915, Edgar at the age of 29 enlisted in the AIF and was posted to the 4th Field Ambulance Unit with the rank of Provisional Corporal. He was sent to France with his unit in July 1916 and shortly after his arrival was transferred to the 12th Field Ambulance Unit.
He served with his unit on the Western Front at the Battle of the Somme, the Battle of Bullecourt, Messines and Polygon Wood, the scenes of some of the most brutal fighting of the war. It is hard to imagine the daily horror of what Edgar would have experienced as a member of a Field Ambulance Unit whose job it was to transport the wounded from the battlefield clearing stations to the medical services behind the lines.
In June 1919 Edgar returned to Australia as Nursing Staff on the Hospital Ship SS Somali and was eventually discharged later that same year.
Edgar married in 1922. He lived until 1949 and his remains are interrred at the Karrakatta Cemetery, Nedlans, Perth
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