EDWARDS, Frederick Middleton
(Service number 15884)
| First Rank | Rifleman | Last Rank | Rifleman |
|---|
Birth
| Date | 3 August 1889 | Place of Birth | Bridport, Dorset, England |
|---|
Enlistment Information
| Date | Age | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Address at Enlistment | 5 Parsonage Road, Waimate | ||
| Occupation | Compositor | ||
| Previous Military Experience | |||
| Marital Status | Single | ||
| Next of Kin | Miss A. BOWMAN (aunt), 5 Victoria Street, Montrose, Scotland; F. W. EDWARDS (father), Bridport, Dorset, England. Also, Mr W. DUNCAN (friend), Gordon Road, Mosgiel. | ||
Military Service
| Served with | NZ Armed Forces | Served in | Army |
|---|
Embarkation Information
| Body on Embarkation | New Zealand Rifle Brigade | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Unit, Squadron, or Ship | 6th Reinforcements, 3rd Battalion, G Company | ||
| Date | 26 July 1916 | ||
| Transport | Waitemata or Ulimaroa | ||
| Embarked From | Destination | ||
| Other Units Served With | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Last Unit Served With | Rifle Brigade | ||
Military Awards
| Campaigns | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Service Medals | |||
Award Circumstances and Date
No information
Prisoner of War Information
| Date of Capture | |
|---|---|
| Where Captured and by Whom | |
| Actions Prior to Capture | |
| PoW Serial Number | |
| PoW Camps | |
| Days Interned | |
| Liberation Date |
Death
| Date | 7 June 1962 | Age | 72 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Place of Death | |||
| Cause | |||
| Memorial or Cemetery | Omaka Cemetery, Blenheim | ||
| New Zealand Memorials | |||
Biographical Notes
Frederick Middleton Edwards was born on 3 August 1889 at Bridport, Dorset, England, the third son of Frederick William Edwards and Sarah Wishart née Bowman, both from Montrose, Forfarshire, Scotland. Young Frederick was at home at Bridport with his family in 1891 and 1901. His mother died in 1913 at Bridport. When he enlisted with the New Zealand Forces, he was a compositor with the Advertiser Printing Company at Waimate.
F. M. Edwards and nine other Waimate men, two from Willowbridge and one from St Andrews, who were joining the 15th Reinforcements, were farewelled at the railway station at noon on 5 April 1916. “The town was beflagged, the school children paraded, and the two bands marched the squad of enlisters to the railway steps, where Mrs Francis, the Mayoress, Dr. Hayes, deputy-Mayor, and Borough Councillors were present to meet them.” Later on 5 April 1916, the South Canterbury quota for the 15th Reinforcements left by the express for the military camps, the Infantry – including F. M. Edwards, Waimate - proceeding to Trentham. Before departing Timaru, the men were entertained by the Ladies’ Patriotic Committee at luncheon in the Stafford Tea Rooms. Falling in at the Drill Shed at 3pm, they were addressed by the Mayor, Mr Craigie, M.P., and the Rev. Dean Tubman. The 2nd South Canterbury Regimental Band was in attendance, and the High School Cadets and the Honorary Territorials formed a cordon at the railway station.
At Trentham in May 1916, Frederick Edwards was one of five Waimate boys who occupied Hut 123 – ‘Last but not least, we have the “Disturber of Peace” — Edwards, or “Scotty” of the printing game, Which he trusts later on to resume again.’ [Waimate Daily Advertiser, 12 May 1916.]
Sources
Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [07 August 2020]; 1891 & 1901 England census returns (ancestry.com.au) [08 August 2020]; Omaka Cemetery, Blenheim headstone transcription [08 August 2020]; Omaka Cemetery headstone image (Find A Grave) [08 August 2020; Timaru Herald, 5 April 1916, Waimate Daily Advertiser, 5 April 1916, 12 May 1916 (Papers Past) [03 & 13 August 2020]
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Researched and Written by
Teresa Scott, SC branch NZSG
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Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License unless otherwise stated.
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