Branch of Service

Army

Conflict

World War I (1914-1918)

Date of Enlistment

14/09/1916

Date of Discharge

15/07/1919

Place of Enlistment

Sydney Showgrounds NSW

Gender

Male

Place of Birth

Braidwood NSW

Address (at enlistment)

'Loch Lomond' via Goolagong NSW (previously Kowen ACT)

Occupation

Grazier

Next of Kin

William James Edmonds (father), 'Loch Lomond' via Goolagong NSW

Service Number

2895

Final Rank

Private

Final Unit

59 Battalion AIF

Edmonds' parents, William and Annie (nee McInnes), both came from the Kowen district and lived there when Reg Edmonds was a boy before moving to western New South Wales. He enlisted as an 18 year old with their permission and embarked for England with the seventh reinforcements to the 59th Battalion in November 1916.

Edmonds joined the 59th Battalion in the front line near Bapaume in March 1917. His unit was part of the Battle of Polygon Wood on 26 September 1917 and were on Broodseinde ridge in October when Edmonds was wounded in the thigh and elbow. In March 1918 his unit were moved to the Somme and during April were on the front line near Villers-Bretonneux. On 24 April the Germans took the town, but that night the 59th Battalion was part of a counter-attack that re-captured it.  During the Battle of Hamel on 4 July, Edmonds was involved in a feint on the Morlancourt ridge when he was again wounded. He did not rejoin his unit until mid October by which time his unit were out of the front line. He returned to Australia in May 1919 and married Catherine Casey in 1924. Edmonds died in St. John of God Hospital, Goulburn on 3 September 1982.

Description - height 5 feet 6 inches, weight 126 pounds, medium complexion, hazel eyes, brown hair, Presbyterian.

Rex Cross, 'Bygone Queanbeyan', 1980
Marilyn Folger, 'McInnes Family of Gilbert and Mary', 1998
Our Queanbeyan 'Boys' No.4, Howard & Shearsby, Yass (postcard)
Goulburn Evening Post - 6 September 1982
NAA RecordSearch - Series B2455 (First Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1914-1920)