EDWARDS Joseph

The Chronicle 2 August 1918 p3, Sad letters from France - Miss E.E.Edwards of Poona School has received .....

Additional Information:

EDWARDS, JOSEPH
1778, Lance Corporal, 47th Australian Infantry Battalion.
b. 23.01.1897 Yandina, Qld.
Enlisted: Brisbane, Qld.
d. 22.06.1917 Messines, France.
Next of Kin: Joseph Edwards – Father.

Buried St. Sever Cemetery Extension, Haute-Normandie France. P. II. I. 2a.

Lance Corporal Joseph Edwards was the youngest son of Joseph Edwards and Harriet Evans of Ninderry. He wrote a letter dated 14 June, and headed “Somewhere in France”, which was published in the Nambour Chronicle. Edwards described France with its groves of trees, orchards and vineyards as a very beautiful place. He related some of the journey across the sea, having been chased by a submarine and watching the Queen Mary sink in two pieces. They heard the news of Lord Kitchener’s ship being torpedoed and how that news was discredited for some time.
The Australian lads were welcomed by the French people, who were mainly old, or very young, their young men having gone off to fight on the Western Front.
The Battalion travelled on through Paris and into the frigid conditions of the battle zone. Some short time after this letter was received, Miss E. Edwards, a teacher at Poona State School received the sad news that her brother had been wounded in battle and had died at Messines, France. Edwards was described in a letter to Miss Edwards as a “great mate, always unselfish and a splendid example to those around him.”
A send off to another six of Yandina’s townsmen who volunteered was postponed on account of the sad news that Joseph Edwards had died from gunshot wounds received in the course of battle in France. The Choral Society meeting and practice was also postponed for the same reason and a letter of condolence to the parents was sent expressing the Society’s deepest sympathy.
Memorial services in memory of Lance Corporal Joseph Edwards were held at Ninderry, and in the Yandina Methodist Church. The Yandina Methodist Church was filled in spite of many being away for the Easter Holidays on the occasion of the unveiling of a tablet erected to the memory of Lance Corporal Joseph Edwards, who gave his life in the Great War. The Rev. James Moorhouse, a friend of the family, came from Brisbane to perform the ceremony. He had only recently returned from visiting the battlefields and graves of the fallen and gave moving reminiscences of his travels, after which he unveiled the tablet as the great gathering stood. Mrs. J. McNab accompanied on the organ for the singing.
Joseph Edwards has been memorialized on his parents’ headstone in Yandina Cemetery.

Source: National Archives of Australia; Australian War Memorial; Qld Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages; Chronicle and North Coast Advertiser 6 July 1917; 13 July 1917; 27 July 1917 p.5; 1 April 1921; 23 June 1922; Records of the Old Maroochy Shire Cemeteries recorded and held by Genealogy Sunshine Coast.

From the Genealogy Sunshine Coast publication
“AND THEIR NAMES SHALL LIVE FOREVER…”
REMEMBERING MILITARY PERSONNEL IN THE OLD MAROOCHY SHIRE CEMETERIES – BOOK 2, THE SMALL CEMETERIES (DIDDILLIBAH, EUMUNDI, GHEERULLA, MAPLETON, OLD NAMBOUR, YANDINA)

Yandina Cemetery

St Sever Cemetery Extension, Rouen, France, P11.1.2A

Yandina/Maroochy River/North Arm Roll of Honour, Yandina School of Arts Hall, Corner of Stevens and Farrell Streets, Yandina

Maroochy Shire Honor Roll, Shire Chambers, Bury Street, Nambour

Nambour (Maroochy Shire) Roll of Honor Scroll, Private Collection, Nambour (this scroll was available for sale to the public after the war)(on scroll twice)

Maroochy Shire War Dead, Quota Park, Matthew Street, Nambour

Yandina and District War Memorial, Stevens St, Yandina

Memorial Plaque, Yandina RSL Hall, Cooloolabin Road, Yandina

Photo of memorial plaque in Yandina RSL Hall. Photo courtesy of C. Petersen.