Soldiers' Records


Private Edward Southern

24001 13th Bn, Cheshire Regiment
Died 30st May 1916. Age 30.


Edward Southern was born in 1886, in Ellesmere port, Cheshire. He lived at number 53 Lime Street in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire. Edward was the son of James and Sarah Southern, husband of Ethel H. Southern. Edward was in the 13th Battalion, Cheshire Regiment. His service number was 24001. Edward was sent to France in preparation for the Battle of the Somme where he was killed. He died on the 30th may 1916 aged just 30 just before the start of the major battle. Edward was buried in the Etaples military cemetery, Pas de Calais, France. His grave reference number is V.D.16. Etaples is a town about 27 kilometres south of Boulogne. The cemetery is to the north of the town, on the west side of the road to Boulogne.

Etaples military cemetery

According to the CWGC; During the First World War, the area around Etaples was the scene of immense concentrations of Commonwealth reinforcement camps and hospitals. It was remote from attack, except from aircraft, and accessible by railway from both the northern or the southern battlefields. In 1917, 100,000 troops were camped among the sand dunes and the hospitals, which included eleven general, one stationary, four Red Cross hospitals and a convalescent depot, could deal with 22,000 wounded or sick. In September 1919, ten months after the Armistice, three hospitals and the Q.M.A.A.C. convalescent depot remained.

The cemetery contains 10,769 Commonwealth burials of the First World War, the earliest dating from May 1915. Hospitals were again stationed at Etaples during the Second World War and the cemetery was used for burials from January 1940 until the evacuation at the end of May 1940. After the war, a number of graves were brought into the cemetery from other French burial grounds. Of the 119 Second World War burials, 38 are unidentified. Etaples Military Cemetery also contains 658 German burials and a few war graves of other nationalities. The cemetery, the largest Commission cemetery in France, was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens.


 

Edward in Ellesmere Port

Lime Street is highlighted in red

 



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