Branch of Service

Army

Conflict

World War I (1914-1918)

Date of Enlistment

04/04/1916

Place of Enlistment

Royal Military College, Duntroon ACT

Gender

Male

Date of Birth

10/05/1895

Place of Birth

Melbourne, Victoria

Address (at enlistment)

Royal Military College, Duntroon ACT

Occupation

Soldier

Next of Kin

Edward Wardell (father), Castlemaine, Victoria

Final Rank

Captain

Final Unit

1 Division Artillery AIF

Military Cross (Commonwealth of Australia Gazette, 18 April 1918)

Wardell entered the Royal Military College, Duntroon on 12 March 1914 in the fourth intake of cadets and graduated on 3 April 1916. He embarked for England in May 1916 with fellow RMC cadets Mackey, Chambers and Algie with the 10th Machine Gun Company. Wardell was appointed a Captain and was awarded the Military Cross for his work during 1917, including at Messines, for "conspicuously good work in connexion with the drawing up of defence schemes and the preparations for offensive operations". The AWM image E00555 shows Wardell with some of his men at a German pillbox at Uhlan Trench, Messines in July 1917. He served with the 2nd AIF in World War 2 in England with the rank of Brigadier as the Australian representative to the Imperial War Cabinet where his role was to ensure that welfare standards for AIF soldiers were met. Wardell died in 1965 aged 69 years.

Colonel J.E. Lee, 'Duntroon: The Royal Military College of Australia 1911-1946', 1952
AWM First World War Unit Embarkation Rolls
AWM Honours & Awards