Flanagan, Edwin George

Lieutenant Edwin George Flanagan – 35^th Battalion AIF

Edwin was born in Fremantle in 1890, and like his brothers spent much of his early life in Fremantle and Rottnest Island. He was educated in Fremantle and Claremont and after leaving school he began work for the WA Mines Department and prior to the war he was the Mining Registrar for his department.

On the 16^th September 1915 Edwin went to the Swan Barracks in Perth to enlist in the AIF. He was accepted as fit for service with the medical examiner recording his physical attributes as 5 feet 6 inches in height; weight of 127 lbs; chest measurement of 32-25 inches; fresh complexion; grey eyes and light brown hair.

After being sent to Blackboy Hill Camp Edwin was assigned to No.31 training depot and on the 1^st November 1915 was transferred into the 7^th Reinforcements to the 28^th Battalion with the regimental no.3099. He had a few months training in WA and on the 18^th January 1916 the group entrained for Fremantle Harbour where they boarded the HMAT Medic. The journey to Egypt took almost a month as the men disembarked in Alexandria on the 16^th February 1916.

After being disembarked Edwin and his group were sent into the 7^th Training Battalion.  Due to the 28^th Battalion being at full quota, the men were largely sent to different units as the AIF underwent an expansion at the beginning of March. Edwin was transferred to the 2^nd Division Cyclist Company and on the 19^th March his Company departed Egypt and journeyed to France, disembarking at Marseilles on the 30^th March 1916. Edwin worked with the 2^nd Cyclist Company for the next several weeks in France but on the 12^th May they became part of the 1^st Anzac Cyclist Battalion.

Edwin was now a Corporal and he served with the 1^st Anzac Cyclist Battalion through the Somme action. On the 16^th September Edwin was promoted to Sergeant while the unit was in Belgium. They soon returned to the Somme where they spent the 1916/17 French winter. Edwin’s unit was busy in March 1917 due to the German withdrawal to the Hindenburg Line.

Edwin was selected by his unit to attend an Officers Cadet Training Battalion and on the 5^th July 1917 he left France bound for England. Edwin was assigned to No.4 Officers Cadet Battalion at Oxford. The training would take four months and at the end of the course Edwin was appointed a 2^nd Lieutenant. On the 19^th November 1917 he left England for France and he was sent into the 3^rd Australian Division Base Depot at Rouelles.

Edwin did not return to the Cyclists, he was instead appointed to the infantry, on the 26^th November he was taken on strength of the 35^th Battalion AIF.

The 35^th Battalion were then in the Warneton sector of southern Belgium and they would remain here for the 1917/18 winter. On the 15^th February 1918 Edwin was granted leave to England, returning on the 28^th February.

As a result of the German offensive of 21^st March 1918 when the Germans broke through the 3^rd & 5^th British Armies, the 3^rd & 4^th Australian Divisions were sent to the Somme front to stop the Germans advance towards Amiens.

From Sailly-le-Sec to Villers-Bretonneux the 3^rd Division were defending a wide front. The 9^th Brigade got drawn into the initial defence of Villers-Bretoneux. On the 4^th/5^th April 1918 the Germans launched a large assault on the village and the 9^th Brigade were heavily involved in the action. The 35^th Battalion were central to the defence of the village and their casualties were high.

Edwin was shot in the abdomen and stretcher bearers came and evacuated him to the 9^th Field Ambulance. Initial treatment was given and then he was forwarded on to the 47^th Casualty Clearing Station. It was a very severe wound and it was touch and go for a while, but fortunately Edwin pulled through the initial stages when he was listed as dangerously wounded. He was put on an ambulance train and sent on to the 2^nd Red Cross Hospital in Rouen. Edwin remained in this hospital for the next few weeks and on the 26^th April he was sent to the hospital ship Grantully Castle and taken to England.

While he was fighting for life, Edwin’s promotion to Lieutenant came through. However when he was taken to the 3^rd London General Hospital the wound was still listed as very severe so Edwin was not out of the woods yet. Edwin would spend the next four months in this hospital.

By September 1918 Edwin had recovered enough to be released from hospital and he was sent to No.2 Command Depot at Sutton Veny Camp. His health was assessed and while he was not medically fit enough to return to the Western Front, Edwin was posted for duty with the AIF Depots in the UK. He was on this duty for the next few months and was in England when the Armistice was announced.

Lt Edwin Flanagan continued with his role into 1919, but in early March he was given a berth on a transport ship home. Edwin reached Alexandria where he stopped for a few days and then boarded the HMT Dunluce Castle. On the 7^th April 1919 he set sail for Australia and disembarked in Fremantle on the 6^th May 1919.

Lt Edwin Flanagan was discharged from the AIF on the 15^th September 1919. After returning from the war, Edwin took up residence in Claremont and began work as a Clerk.

In 1921 he married Mary Troy in the Swan district of WA and by 1925 were in Leinster, which is approximately 300 km north of Kalgoorlie. They spent much of the 1930’s in Kalgoorlie before returning to live in South Perth in the 1940’s.

Edwin died in Perth in 1967 aged 77.

             Edwin (bottom right) while at Officer Training School in Oxford in 1917 (photo courtesy Flanagan family page Ancestry)