Edmund Withers DAWES [4494]

   Another name for Edmund was Ted DAWES.

  General Notes:

Edmond Withers served in France in WW1. On his service record he is listed as EDWARD Withers Dawes. His SERN was 2368. He was with the 12th Machine Gun Battalion in Pozieres, France, when he was reported missing in action on 7 August 1916. He was later found to have been captured by the Germans and interned in Germany. He was captured at Contalmaison, France and was said to have been held at Dulmen, Germany. Where he spent some time in a lager and also working on a farm. He was repatriated to England in January 1919.

Was killed in a motorcycle accident.

From a Facebook post shared on Bunyip Historical Society Page
Tania N Ben Carthew
1 h · 08/08/2022
A day late posting however I think it is just as important to remember those that came home.

Edmund Dawes ancestors still live on in the area today.

PTE Edmund Withers Dawes
Service Number #2368
Enlisted 8th May 1915, he was 19 years and 11 months old.

For some reason or another, more than likely a clerical error, Edmund's name was listed as Edward on his service record.
Edmund served in France in WW1 with the 12th Machine Gun Company, 4th Machine Gun Battalion when he was captured as a prisoner of war on the 7th of August 1916 at Pozieres, Somme, or also reported as Contalmaison.
Edmund and the other captives were taken to Cambrai where they were held for 3 days before being transferred to Dulmen, Germany for 6 weeks held in a lager. After 6 weeks the captives were split up and sent to different camps. Edmund was sent to Sprottau in Silesia before he was sent to work in a sugar factory. He remained there for 6 months before being sent back to Sprottau for 2 months. on the 27th of May 1917 he was sent to work on a farm at Langenwalden near Licguitz where he remained until the armistice was signed. He mentions in his statement that he was treated very well when he was at the farm and was not ill treated at the sugar factory however the food the captives recieved when they were first transferred to Germany was not fit for human consumption.

On the 15th of January he sailed for Dover, England where he was granted leave the following day for one month in London. Edmund did not return from leave until a day later on the 17th of February 1919 and was charged with being AWOL and docked a days pay.

He sailed home on the Armagh from England April 1919.

Edmund returned home to Bunyip where he married Elizabeth "Mick" Berry and had 4 sons and 1 daughter. Edmund, Mervyn, Graham, Kevin and Merle Dawes.

  Noted events in his life were:

1. Military: World War 1 SERN 2368, 1914-1918.

Edmund married Elizabeth BERRY [5093] [MRIN: 1587] in 1920 in , Victoria, Australia. (Elizabeth BERRY [5093] was born in 1899 in Bunyip, Vic, Australia and died in 1988 in Dandenong, Victoria, Australia.)