BX April 29, 1915
When the Canadian Call for Volunteers Was Received He Was One of the First to Offer His Services to His King and Country – Is His Mother’s Chief Support
A telegram officially announcing another Brantford casualty was received in the city this morning from the Adjutant-General at Ottawa. Mrs. F. Edwards, who resides at 73 Arthur Street, received the unwelcome tidings that her son, Private Ernest Edwards, had been wounded in the fighting around Ypres and that further particulars would be immediately forwarded on their arrival at the Canadian militia department. The telegram follows:
Sincerely regret to inform you 11347, Private Ernest Edwards, 4th Battalion officially reported wounded. Further particulars when received will be sent to you.
Adjutant-General
Private Edwards, though only 19 years of age, enlisted on the first night of recruiting with the Dufferin Rifles; first active service company, having had one year’s training with the regiment prior to the outbreak of hostilities. He was employed as machine-apprentice at the Mickle Dyment factory, where he was a promising and valued employee. Private Edwards, who was popularly known as “Cy” had the reputation of being a crack shot, having won several prizes in shooting matches with the Dufferin Rifles, while at Valcartier he established an enviable record as a marksman.
His mother has heard frequently from her son, who recently and evidently just in time to participate in the fighting at Ypres, was discharged from a base hospital in France. According to his own story to his mother, Private Edwards was confined to the hospital owing to a slight temporary indisposition. Mrs. Edwards learned however, through letters from some of his fellow soldiers that her son had been wounded slightly in the hand and had been sent to the hospital where he remained for four or five weeks. Private Edwards, though young, was a splendid solider and had from his boyhood days taken a keen and intelligent interest in military work.
Private Edwards was his mother’s chief supporter, Mr. Edwards having been absent from the city for an indefinite period. His sister, Mrs. Norman Voit, a brother Albert, who is employed at the residence of Judge Hardy and a younger sister, Doris, reside at the family residence on Arthur Street.
BX May 17, 1915
Private Edwards, Brantford, Tells What it Feels Like to Face Terrific Fire
Writing very interestingly of soldier life at Shorncliffe, Eng., where is located one of the largest British hospitals, in which many Canadians are being cared for, Lieut. Walter Curran, of Stratford, relates the following interview with Pte. Edwards, of this city, who was wounded recently in the fighting at Ypres.
Our battalion was held in reserve. We were called upon about midnight. In order to approach the Germans we had to cross an open space of almost 800 yards. We would make a dash, then the German machine guns would fire a great volley. We would drop, and ping! The bullets fly over us. When their fire eased a little, we would up and run again. You run as fast as your legs will carry you. You forget all about danger, about everything. You just dash at the enemy, dodge the bullets, and at him again. You don’t care whether you are killed or not. I was hit about 200 yards from the German trenches, so did not take part in the close work. The Germans will not stand up to the Bayonet. They absolutely fear cold steel.
Edwards hopes to be in shape soon again to get another dash at the Huns, but though his complete recovery is assured, it will take some time for new bone to form so that he can take up arms.
BX July 22, 1915
Arm is Now Useless One – Pte. Ernest Edwards Hopes Operation Will Restore Use of Injured Arm
Private Ernest Edwards, a member of the first contingent of Dufferin Rifles, who was wounded on the battle fields of France, and is now a convalescent at the Queen’s Canadian Military Hospital at Shorncliffe, England, has written home to his mother, Mrs. F. Edwards, 73 Arthur Street, Brantford. In a brief and interesting letter he states that at the present time his wounded arm is of no use to him. He expected, however, that the doctors would operate on it shortly and they were confident that the surgical work would restore to him the full use of the injured member. He hopes to get his discharge from the hospital shortly.
Private Edwards also enclosed two snapshots of himself and fellow comrades at the hospital, showing them chatting together in the open air on the lawn of the institution.
BX October 12, 1915
Expects Soon To Be Home – Pte. Ernest Edwards, Five Months in Hospital, Expects to Come Back
Pte. E. Edwards, who for the last five months has been in the Queen’s Canadian Military Hospital, suffering from wounds, expects to be back in the city soon to recuperate. In a recent letter to his mother, Mrs. E. Edwards, Arthur Street he writes:
Dear Mother,
I have good news to tell you. By the time you get this letter I will be out of this place. I am to go before a board in a few days to see what they are going to do with me. They may send me home, for it will be some time before I will be any good. Just to be home once more, after what I have seen this past year is good. There is good news in the paper this morning, but when I think of what it was like – all those men and boys going to their death with a smile on their face, for freedom's sake! Do not worry, I may be disabled a bit, but I am thankful I got away with what I did.
I have had over five months in this hospital and I have stood a lot of pain. Are they all using you well? Do not want for anything. I guess when I first enlisted you thought I was a fool, but I have done the right thing for once. Well the board may have a heart and send me home. Remember me to all at home. Goodbye. Do not write till you hear from me again.
Your Loving Son,
Ernest
BX March 18, 1916
Convalescent Soldier Picks Up His Health – Pte. Ernest Edwards Was Told That He Looked Like a German Boy – A Soldiers Life
In a letter to his brother, Pte. Bert. Edwards, Pte. Ernest Edwards, who is now in the Canadian Convalescent camp, Epsom, Surrey, tells of having grown so fat that he has been taken for a German boy by an old lady who formerly had one in her employ.
The Letter:
Just a few lines hoping that they will find you alright. What do you think of soldiering? No doubt you are just waiting for the time when you will sail for old England's shores. I am looking forward to seeing you over here before long and will be proud to think that my younger brother is a soldier. What kind of a time are you having? Do they use and feed you good? My, I just wish that I could soldier and live at home. Take it from me; it puts new life into one. I have had one of the best times of my life since I enlisted. I am not sorry and there is not much to be afraid of, for I know Bert that you are the right kind.
I have done my bit and am willing to go out again, but I am disabled just a little and that keeps me back. They will discharge me some of these days when they get tired of giving me treatment and then it will be back to work after all these months just living at ease. Old Jerry Vath is here and he says that when I get home they won't know me. I am good and fat and more like a young German. That puts me in mind of a few weeks ago I went out to a party and there was one old lady had the nerve to tell me that I just looked like a German boy that used to work for her. Take it from me I told her just where to get off.
