Cornish, Edward Charles
1521 Private Edward Charles Cornish - 28th Battalion & 2nd Pioneer Battalion
Edward Charles Cornish was born in 1880 in Geraldton WA to James and Ellen Cornish. He was one of twelve siblings born into the family. In 1884 the family moved to Fremantle and Charlie received his education here.
On the 12th July 1895 his father died in Fremantle.
In 1902 in Fremantle he married Edith Sara Whittaker and they had a daughter Dorothy born in 1904 and a son Milton in 1905. They initially lived at Perth Road North Fremantle.
They then lived at 14 Lilly Street South Fremantle (Later renumbered to 4 Lilly) and Charlie was working as an engineer.
Sadly on the 10th November 1910 his wife Edith died in Fremantle. He moved to East Perth in 1910 before returning to Fremantle in 1914.
On the 29th April 1915, Albert enlisted into the Australian Imperial Force. He was accepted as fit for service with the medical examiner recording his physical attribtes as;
Height - 5 feet 7 & 1/2 inches tall;
Weight - 143lbs;
Chest Measurement - 33-35 inches;
Complexion - Dark;
Eyes - Brown;
Hair - Brown, turning grey.
Upon his successful enlistment Edward was sent to Blackboy Hill Camp where he was assigned to the 1st Reinforcements to the 28th Battalion AIF. He trained with this group in WA for the next few months. On the 6th June 1915 Edwards group boarded the transport ship HMAT Geelong and then set sail for Egypt.
After their arrival in Egypt in July they were given further training through to August 1915 and were soon told to prepare to head for Gallipoli. Edward was now taken on strength of the 28th Battalion AIF.
On the 4th September 1915 the 28th Battalion embarked from Egypt and made their way to the peninsula. After the 28th Battalion arrived at Anzac they were sent to part of the newly captured territory to hold the new trenches around positions such as the Apex. The 28th Battalion were not involved in any major actions on Gallipoli but still had a steady stream of casualties. Edward remained with his unit until the Battalion was withdrawn from the peninsula in late December 1915. The 28th Battalion firstly was taken to Mudros and then returned to Egypt on the 10th January 1916.
Edward trained with the 28th Battalion for the next two months in the Egyptian desert as they also held a portion of the Suez Canal defence line. However in March 1916 he was transferred to the newly forming 2nd Pioneer battalion.
The 2nd Pioneers left Egypt on the 19th March 1916 aboard a transport ship which took them to France, arriving at Marseilles on the 26th March 1916. The men were then entrained north for the Armentieres sector. They would have their first experience of the Western Front in this sector.
On the 11th May 1916 while the Pioneers were working in the lines at Bois Greiner, Edward was wounded by shrapnel. He was treated at the 7th Field Ambulance but as the wound was slight he returned to his unit after three days.
On the 11th July 1916 Edward went absent without leave for two days. After reporting back to his unit Edward was punished with 14 days of Field punishment No.2.
On the 23rd July 1916 the 1st Australian Division had captured Pozieres village and the 2nd Australian Division soon relived them. The 2nd Pioneer Battalion went into the line at Pozieres on the 27th July 1916. The Pioneers job was to keep the trenches open and passable under very heavy German shellfire. They were in the front line and communication trenches from July 27th till August 6th 1916.
They were then relieved from the front line but returned on the 20th August for another week. Working all the time under heavy shellfire, being buried by exploding shells and seeing men torn apart had an affect on many men.
Though Edward had emerged from the Somme battles physically unscathed, he was feeling the mental strain, even when his unit were sent to a quieter part of the front line in Belgium in September 1916.
On the 26th September 1916 he was sent to the 8th Stationary Hospital at Wimereux. He had a few weeks here as a patient but was then sent to England with 'mental trouble'.
On arrival in England Edward was admitted to the Royal Victoria Hospital in Netley. Edward remained here till February 1917. He was in no state to return to the fighting in France so the medical authorities ensured that hew as returned to Australia.
On the 22nd February 1917 Edward was sent aboard the hospital ship Karoola for the journey back to Australia. He arrived at Fremantle on the 1st April 1917. He was then sent to No.8 Australian General Hospital in South Terrace Fremantle for further medical treatment.
Edward was discharged from the AIF on the 11th June 1917. He was then granted a military pension of 45/- per fortnight. This was then reduced on the 20th June 1918 to 30/- per fortnight.
Edward remained with his children at the family home in Lilly Street for a few years
His mother died in Fremantle on the 17th July 1926 at 37 Bellevue terrace
During World War Two his son Milton Cornish died in WW2 while a POW of the Japanese on the 30th December 1943 Kilo Camp Burma. He had been a mechanic with No.1 Squadron Royal Australian Air Force.
Edward Charles Cornish died in 1955 East Coolgardie. He was buried in Kalgoorlie Cemetery.