Edwin Beattie was born on 14th March 1894, in the town of Coomera, Queensland, Australia. He was the youngest of three children to John and Mary Beattie.

There is little information available about Edwin’s early life, but when he completed his schooling, he took up farm work. When war broke out, he was keen to play his part, and enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on 28th March 1916.

Private Beattie’s service records show that he was 5ft 9.5ins (1.65m) tall, and weighed 136lbs (61.7kg). A Methodist, he was recorded as having brown hair, blue eyes and a medium complexion. He also had a birthmark on the small of his back, and scars on both knees.

Edwin was assigned to the 44th Battalion of the Australian Infantry. His After training, his unit boarded the SS Seang Choon in Brisbane, and set off on the ten month voyage to Britain, arriving in Devonport, Devon, on the 9th December 1916.

During the voyage, Private Beattie had fallen ill, and, on disembarking, he was taken to the local hospital for treatment. By 23rd December, he was moved to the Military Hospital connected to the ANZAC camp in Codford, Wiltshire. His condition – pneumonia – worsened over the coming days, and Edwin would eventually succumb. As a new year began, he breathed his last, passing away on 1st January 1917, at the age of just 22 years of age.

Thousand of miles from home, Edwin Beattie was laid to rest in the newly extended graveyard of St Mary’s Church, Codford.

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