EDGAR RAYNER BIRD
Image from the Suffolk Chronicle and Mercury
Born: 1890, St. Nicholas, Ipswich.
Died: 7th November 1916; age 27; died of wounds – following amputation of left arm at the 36th Casualty Clearing Station, Heilly, France.
E.A.D.T. – Saturday, 18th November 1916 – Information has been received by Mr. and Mrs. Bird, of 21, Cromwell Street, Ipswich, that their son Driver Edgar Rayner Bird, of the Australian Imperial Forces, has died of wounds received in action in France. A shell burst, killing his horse and injuring his left arm so badly that it had to be removed from the shoulder. In spite of this, the Chaplain wrote to the parents, saying that their son hoped as soon as he was fit to travel, to be brought to England. This letter, however, was supplemented the next day with the news of his death. He had been in Australia seven years, joining the Forces in September 1915, first going to Egypt and then on to France. Mr. and Mrs. Bird have also received news that their son, Private Stanley Bertram Bird, of the Suffolk Regiment, has again been wounded in France, and is now in Hospital at Manchester.
Place of Association: Port Macquarie, New South Wales, Australia.
Occupation: Boundary Rider
Enlistment Details: Location: Holsworthy, New South Wales; date: 11th October 1915; age: 25 years & 2 months; religion: CofE. Next of Kin: father – Joseph Bird, of 31, Cromwell Street, Ipswich. Height: 5ft 6ins, fresh complexion, brown eyes & brown hair.
Embarked 15th January 1916 – Sydney, N.S.W. – H.M.A.T. ‘R.M.S. Osterley’.
19th February 1916 – Zeitoun.
10th March 1916 – Moascar, Egypt.
Embarked 19th March 1916 – Alexandria – ‘Minnewaska’
Disembarked 25th March 1916 – Marseilles.
Mustered Driver – 1st April 1916.
Transferred to 2nd D.A.C., 13th May 1916.
Transferred to 5th F.A.B. 18th July 1916.
Posted to 15th Battery, 20th July 1916.
Rank: Driver; Service Number: 11440
Regiment: Australian Field Artillery, 5th Brigade.
Grave Reference:
V.F.21.
Heilly Station Cemetery,
Mericourt-L’Abbe,
Somme,
France.
Relatives Notified & Address: Son of Joseph & Sarah Jane Bird, of 31, Cromwell Street, Ipswich.
Brother to WILLIAM JAMES BIRD.
CENSUS
1891 28, St. Nicholas Street, Ipswich.
Edgar was 7 months old and living with his parents & siblings.
Joseph Bird, 32, a Timber Merchant’s Clerk, born Nuneaton, Warwickshire.
Sarah Jane Bird, 30, born Rawul Pindee, Bengal, India.
Ethel Mary Bird, 8, born Ipswich.
William James Bird, 6, born Ipswich.
Ellen Maud Bird, 5, born Ipswich.
Joseph John Bird, 2, born Ipswich.
1901 29, Cromwell Street, Ipswich.
Edgar was 10 years old living with his parents & siblings.
Joseph, 42, a Timber Merchant’s Clerk.
Sarah, 50.
Ethel, 18, a Shop Assistant.
William, 16, worked at a Timber Yard.
Ellen, 15, a Clerk – Drapery Shop.
Joseph, 11.
Selina Amelia Bird, 9, born Ipswich.
Winifred Grace Bird, 7, born Ipswich.
Sidney Arthur Bird, 5, born Ipswich.
Stanley Bertram Bird, 4, born Ipswich.
Walter Samuel Bird, 2, born Ipswich.
baby son, 1 month, born Ipswich (Cecil Bennett).
IMMIGRATION
On the 23rd August 1909, 19 year old, Edgar arrived at the port of Sydney, N.S.W., Australia. He had travelled via the Suez Canal, on board the S.S. ‘Seydlitz’ from Antwerp, Belgium. He was to be a Farm Hand.
Joseph received his late son’s personal effects at his home – 31, Cromwell Street, Ipswich:
2 printing frames, Testament, 2 handkerchiefs, soap tin, identity disc, pipe, metal match box holder, 2 coins, Bible, cards, photos, letters, leather cigar case, 2 photos in a metal locket.
Australia House, London, issued the ‘Where The Australians Rest’ pamphlet, Memorial Scroll & Memorial Plaque on the 8th August 1922.
Edgar is also remembered on the war memorial at St. Nicholas Church, Ipswich.
Stanley Bertram Bird: –
E.A.D.T – Saturday, 29th May 1915 – Second-Lieutenant Moss, of the 4th Suffolks, in a letter to Mr. Joseph Bird, of 28, St. Nicholas Street, Ipswich, gives information of the wounding of his son, Private Stanley Bertram Bird. The young Territorial was wounded in the trenches on Tuesday of last week, being hit in the chest, receiving a cut on the back, and a slight cut on the thigh. He bore himself very pluckily. Lieutenant Moss adds: – “He has done his duty well, and our Company Commander is sorry to lose him.”
AUSTRALIAN FIELD ARTILLERY:
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