2833 Sergeant Edmund Geoffrey Holden - 44th Battalion & AIF Depot HQ UK
Edmund was born in 1879 in Preston Lancashire England to John and Alice Holden, being one of nine siblings. He was educated and grew up in Preston. The 1901 census lists Edmund in Preston living with his family as 22 years old and was working as a solicitor.
In 1906 he married Nora Emily Holt in Preston and they continued to reside in Preston until 1911 when they moved to Australia and took up residence in Perth. He then took up work as a Solicitor in the north west of the state.
On the 16th September 1914 Edmund and Nora were divorced, there doesn't appear to have been any children from the marriage
On the 22nd July 1916 he remarried to Sarah Walker and they would have a daughter Sarah born in Fremantle in 1917. At this time the family were living at 579 Edmund St Beaconsfield, (later renumbered to 117 Edmund St) prior to which they had been residing at the Orient Hotel.
On the 30th September 1916 Edmund enlisted into the Australian Imperial Force. He was accepted as fit for enlistment, with the medical examiner recording Ed's physical attributes as;
Height - 5 feet 5 inches;
Weight - 180lbs;
Chest Measurement - 37-40 inches;
Complexion - Fresh;
Eyes - Brown;
Hair - Dark Brown to Grey.
Upon his successful enlistment Ed was sent to Blackboy Hill Camp and was initially put into No.87 training Depot. He would have a month being taken through the basics of infantry work. On the 11th November 1916 he was transferred into the 6th Reinforcements to the 44th battalion.
Edmund spent the next several weeks training with this group while they waited for their embarkation orders to arrive. These finally came through and on the 29th December 1916, Ed and his group entrained for Fremantle Harbour where they boarded the transport ship HMAT Persic. The ship then set sail for England, arriving at Devonport Harbour on the 3rd March 1917.
Ed and his group were then disembarked and sent into the 11th training Battalion at Sutton Mandeville Camp. He trained here for a few months but on the 8th May 1917 was detached for duty with the AIF HQ Depot.
It appears that Edmund was diagnosed with chronic arthritis, which stopped him being sent to the 44th Battalion, but his legal and clerical skills were being utilised, as Ed was attached to the HQ of the AIF UK Depots through 1917 and 1918 and was also promoted to Sergeant.
On the 24th December 1918 Ed boarded the transport ship Takada and set sail for Australia, reaching Fremantle on the 1st February 1919.
He was discharged from the AIF on the 20th March 1919.
After he returned home the family returned to Carnarvon where Edmund resumed his legal practice. A son Edmund was born in 1919 and John in 1922. The family would be in Carnarvon through to the 1940's.
His son Edmund Holden died in World War Two on the 14th July 1943 while with the 27th Operational Training Unit. He was lost when his plane crashed into the North Sea and is therefore commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial.
In 1943 the family moved to Hampden Road South Perth.
Edmund died on the 18th April 1960 aged 80. He was cremated at Karrakatta Cemetery.
