ASPLAND Edward

Edgar Wells, born in South Africa, had come to Nambour in 1909 as a young teenager. He enlisted in the Australian Army on 25th August 1915 at age 20, when the First World War was bogging down in the trenches of France and Belgium, and more young fighting men were needed to go 'over there'. About a week later, another Nambour 20-year-old, Edward Aspland, also enlisted. Both men wished to serve as motor drivers, and were transported to Sydney where they embarked on the RMS Osterley on 15th January 1916.

After a brief sojourn in Cairo during February and March, they sailed from Alexandria to Marseilles in southern France, where they found themselves posted as 'Gunners', Edgar in the 3rd Field Artillery Brigade and Edward in the 21st Field Artillery Brigade. After two months, Edgar was promoted to Bombardier and transferred to the 21st Field Artillery Brigade where he met up with Edward once again. The picture, taken in England, shows Edward standing at left. During action in Belgium in November 1917, they both came under gas attack, and Edgar saved Edward's life by carrying him to safety. Edward spent some time recovering in the City of London Military Hospital at Clapton before returning to Belgium. Edgar was promoted to Corporal, possibly in consideration of his brave actions. Both men were wounded twice in this way, but served until the armistice before safely returning to Australia in 1919 on different ships, Edward on the Soudan and Edgar on the Orca.

Edgar married Edward's sister, Edith, and operated the Geddes Café in Currie Street that was burned down in the great fire of 5th January 1924. Edgar Wells then bought (or leased) another café from Mr Alf Williams, in a building shared with Williams' Emporium, two doors south of the Commercial Hotel, and ran it for nearly a year, until his brother-in-law Edward approached him in late 1924 with the offer of a partnership in his Returned Soldiers' Garage. {2-6-1922, p.8}
On his return to Nambour, Edward Aspland had set up his Garage with a Mr Bigelow in 1919 and it had flourished, but now Mr Bigelow wished to move on. The Returned Soldiers' Garage was located in Currie Street, a few doors south of the Royal George Hotel. It provided automotive services such as petrol, oil, spares, maintenance and repairs, and was also a dealership for new vehicles, selling Dodge cars and trucks, Overland Whippets and Willys-Knight cars. The block on which the Garage was built was especially suitable, as it was L-shaped, with a side entrance for cars in Bury Street as well as the main frontage in Currie Street. Edgar Wells accepted the partnership with Edward Aspland, and sold his café in January 1925 to Messrs. J. Nichols and S. Baildon, who re-named it the White Rose Café. {11-1-1924, pp.7, 8} {12-12-1924, p.8} {20-12-1929, p.8}

Messrs Wells and Aspland rented the premises of their Returned Soldiers' Garage from a Mr F. W. Walsh of Brisbane. In March 1926 they decided to buy the building from Mr Walsh, and purchased it on 20th March. Ten days later, it burned to the ground in another one of Nambour's disastrous fires. This was the second time Mr Wells had been burnt out in 27 months. Eight other business premises went up that night, including that of Mr F. Bendixen, a general merchant. Like Mr Wells, Mr Bendixen had also lost a previous business in the great fire of 5th January 1924. Wells and Aspland rebuilt the Returned Soldiers' Garage in brick. This was a Government requirement, as Currie Street from Mitchell Street to the Petrie Creek bridge had been proclaimed a 'first class area', and new buildings had to be constructed of fire-proof materials. The Garage operated there until 1960 when the building was taken over by Nambour Agencies. It is now a Retravision store, and still has entrances in both streets. The driveway across the gutter, giving access to the Garage's workshop, still exists outside the Retravision store's Bury Street entrance. {1-4-1926, p.9}

Edward ASPLAND was born in Redcliffe, Queensland and is mentioned on the WWI Honour Boards located at Redcliffe R.S.L. and Woody Point Memorial Hall.
Edward married Violet Buchbach on 23 May 1925.

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

Redcliffe R.S.L. WW1 Honour Board

Honour Board, Woody Point Memorial Hall

Image: Edward Aspland (left) and Edgar Wells, courtesy of K Aspland
http://www.starfieldobservatory.com/Nambour/Movies.htm
All postcards courtesy of Kevin Aspland.
More postcards from Edward Aspland are viewable in the Photo Gallery under "Letters and Postcards"