Flanagan, Edgar Francis

No.24580 – Sergeant Edgar Francis Flanagan – 3^rd Division Ammunition Column

Edgar was born in Fremantle in 1894 and spent much of his early life in the port city as well as Rottnest Island where his father was a warden. Edgar was educated in Fremantle and during this time he was also a member of the 86A Cadets of the Citizens Military Forces. He spent four years in 86A and when the family moved to Claremont Edgar did a further year in the 87A Cadets.

On the 28^th December 1915 Edgar went to the Perth Drill Hal to enlist in the AIF. It appears that Edgar just qualified for the minimum physical requirements for the AIF as the medical officer recorded his attributes as; Height of 5 feet 3 inches; weight of 109lbs; chest measurement of 31-33 inches; fresh complexion; brown eyes and dark brown hair. His religious denomination was Roman Catholic.

Upon his successful enlistment Edgar was sent into No.44 Training Depot but on the 19^th January 1916 he was transferred into the Artillery reinforcements. The WA artillery reinforcements were sent to Maribyrnong Camp in Victoria to complete their training. Edgar became an original member of the 3^rd Division Ammunition Column and after further training in Victoria; this group boarded a troopship in Port Melbourne on the 27^th June 1916 and set sail for England, disembarking in Plymouth on the 25^th August 1916.
After a few months of training on the Salisbury Plains in England, the 3^rd DAC left for France on the 24^th November 1916.

The 3^rd Australian Division was originally sent to the Armentieres sector in Northern France and after a few months in this cold sector Edgar was evacuated to a hospital with influenza. Fortunately, he recovered quickly and he had returned by the 26^th March 1917.

The 3^rd Division was now arriving in the Ploegsteert sector of Southern Belgium and they were soon in preparation for the Battle of Messines. Edgar would have been kept busy with supplying ammunition to the Divisional artillery batteries.

There was no rest, for after the successful Messines assault, the Australian artillery provided fire support for the Third Battle of Ypres which began on the 31^st July 1917. Much of the area the artillery batteries were stationed were under German observation so it was always a hazardous job for Edgar in his role as a Driver in bringing the supplies up.

Fortunately Edgar got through 1917 unscathed and on the 30^th December 1917 he was granted his first period of leave to England. He was able to celebrate New Years in England and reported back to his unit on the 8^th January 1918.

Edgar was now at the Bombardier rank and for the first months of 1918 they were in the Warneton sector. On the 22^nd March Edgar was granted another period of leave to England and he reached Calais when all leave was suddenly cancelled. This was due to the successful German offensive which broke through the 3^rd & 5^th British Armies. Fortunately Edgar rejoined the 3^rd Division prior to their leaving for the Somme front. The next week would be very hectic as the 3^rd Division defended a front from Sailly-le-Sec to Villers-Bretonneux.

Edgar had a busy next few months as the Australians changed from a defensive to offensive footing. On the 28^th July 1918 he was granted his leave to England again and had a two week furlough. He returned on the 15^th August and saw out the rest of the war with his unit. For his service with the 3^rd DAC through the war Edwin was Mentioned in Despatches.

On the 28^th January 1919 Edgar, now a Sergeant was sent to England for a period of leave, and he remained in England for several more weeks as he waited to be given a berth on a ship home. On the 17^th March 1919 he boarded the HMT Plassy and set sail for home. As the ship bypassed WA, Edgar disembarked in Adelaide on the 27^th April 1919 and he then had to get transport to Fremantle.

Edgar Flanagan was discharged from the AIF on the 10^th July 1919.

Edgar married Florence Hunter in Perth in 1925 and they had one son, Gerald born in 1930. The family resided in West Perth and then Perth. Edgar worked as a Commercial Traveller but then found work as a Clerk. In the 1950’s they moved to the beach side suburb of Cottesloe and Edgar died in Perth in 1960 aged 65.