EDWARDS, William Henry
| Service Number: | 4952 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 3 July 1915, Sydney, NSW |
| Last Rank: | Warrant Officer Class 1 |
| Last Unit: | Hospital Transport Corps |
| Born: | Sydney, NSW, 1881 |
| Home Town: | Croydon, Ashfield, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Spring Maker |
| Died: | 18 August 1939, cause of death not yet discovered, place of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Rookwood Cemetery & Crematorium Zone F 1AW 0158 |
| Memorials: |
World War 1 Service
| 3 Jul 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Warrant Officer, 4952, Hospital Transport Corps, Sydney, NSW | |
|---|---|---|
| 14 Jul 1915: | Involvement Warrant Officer Class 1, 4952, Hospital Transport Corps, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '24' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Orsova embarkation_ship_number: A67 public_note: '' | |
| 14 Jul 1915: | Embarked Warrant Officer Class 1, 4952, Hospital Transport Corps, HMAT Orsova, Sydney | |
| Date unknown: | Involvement 4952, Army Medical Corps (AIF), --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '24' embarkation_place: '' embarkation_ship: HMAT Karoola embarkation_ship_number: A63 public_note: '' | |
| Date unknown: | Embarked 4952, Army Medical Corps (AIF), HMAT Karoola |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Faithe Jones
Husband of Mrs E M Edwards, 'Weeroona', Bay Street, Croydon, New South Wales
Member of Court Fivedock A.O.F. No 9462
WILLIAM HENRY EDWARDS.
On Sunday evening, 3rd September, the church at- North Croydon was filled, the occasion being a service in memory of Mr. W. H. Edwards, of Bay Street, Croydon. Several of those present had come from a distance, and were either relatives or workmates of the deceased. lhe Rev. P. L. Black, superintendent of the Malvern Hill Circuit, was in charge of the service, and preached an appropriate sermon from 1 Thess., chapter 4, verses 13 14. Mr. Edwards was born at Parramatta fifty-eight years ago. Most of his boyhood, however, was spent at Five Dock, where he was a foundation member of the Sunday School and church. As the years went by he was successively appointed to nearly every office he could hold in the Sunday School, and held various offices in the church as well. He transferred to North Croydon when the new cause was established at that centre, and became a foundation member of the church, a trustee, and the first secretary of the trust. For many years he was in charge of the senior boys' class in the Sunday School, and acted as a collector for the Home and Overseas Mission Departments. He also worked hard to collect money for the Church Building Fund. He loved to be amongst the boys and young men of the church, and for some time he acted as umpire of the Western Suburbs Churches' Cricket League.
When the Great War broke out in 1914 he enlisted as warrant officer under Dr. Gordon Craig, in the Army Medical Corps, and was on the troopship that brought the first lot of wounded soldiers back to Australia. Returning to the war, he was appointed as warrant officer in the Field Ambulance, and went through the battle of the Somme. After the war he took up the position of ambulance attendant at the Eveleigh work shops, which position he held until he was stricken down with fatal illness at the end of March. He was a prominent member of the Railway Ambulance Corps, and was one of the few holders of the Woodward Memorial Shield. He was the holder of many medals because of his ambulance and first-aid work, and was honorary instructor of the St. John's Ambulance Association. In 1936 he received the insignia of a 'Serving Brother' from the King, and in May last he was to have been presented by His Excellency the Governor with the insignia of Officer of the St. John's Ambulance Association. Of his community and church work it is impossible to write at length; suffice it to say that he will long be gratefully remembered by all who were closely associated with him, and who, because of their association with him, were best qualified to appraise his manysided service for God and for his fellow-men. His relatives and friends mourn his passing, but his work is not ended; his energies have merely been transferred to another and a higher sphere. He died as he lived, a good man and a brave.