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Remembered Today:

Pte Edward Attfield, 5th Btn AIF - missing in Cairo - was he murdered?


melliget

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This is a curious case. No 1701 Pte Edward Attfield from South Yarra, Victoria, served at Gallipoli with the 5th Battalion AIF, first arriving there 5 May 1915. He was twice a casualty - GSW back and hand 1st time, illness 2nd time - and appears to have returned to Gallipoli on both occasions. His last CONFIRMED movement appears to have been "6.1.16 Marched into O/Seas Base Ghezireh ex Gallopoli." After that, he seems to have disappeared.


From his service record, it seems that, for quite some time, the army considered him illegally absent. Various memos were sent back and forth between depts but nothing could be found of his whereabouts or fate. On 21 Jul 1920, the army discharged Pte Attfield in consequence of desertion but that was later cancelled.


In Dec 1926, Mr. Percy Russell, a solicitor of Normanby Chambers, Melbourne, wrote to the Defence Department on the case, saying "He has not been heard of for over seven years and must be presumed to be dead." In all likelihood, he had in fact not been heard of for over ten years. Strangely, the death date for Probate purposes (PROV's Index to Wills, Probate and Administration) was recorded as 18 Aug 1915, which is obviously incorrect (later movements are recorded in his service record).


Page 21 of his service record (attached) is most interesting. Dated 17 May 1923, it is a full summary of his movements and, following that, some very interesting comments. Records showed that Pte Attfield was last paid at Cairo on 24 Jan 1916. Also, it says his mother stated that his last letter was written from Cairo on 27.1.16. Additionally, mention is made of a Court of Enquiry held at the 1st Aust. Div. Base Depot Gizeh on 31 Jan 1916 to look into the death of an unidentified Australian soldier found near the camp 27-28 Jan 1916. It found nothing to help identify the man but did determine the cause of death as Asphyxia due to strangulation. There is a note that the burial took place at Old Cairo Cemetery on 1 Feb 1916.


I would like to try to find further documentation on this, if possible. Does anyone have any ideas? Would there be any original records associated with war time burials in Old Cairo Cemetery, for example? Also, finally, what's the opinion on this one as a non-comm case?


AIF service record:



Red Cross Wounded & Missing file:



Embarkation Roll:



regards,


Martin

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Fascinating Martin,

Hopefully the inquiry file and burial records are intact. Perhaps an inquiry with Office of Australian War Graves or Unrecovered War Casualties-Army? They might be able to give you a steer on records.

Rgds

Tim D

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Excellent suggestion, Tim. Good idea to go straight to OAWG in the first instance. Message sent.

Thanks.

Martin

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I can't see any mention of him marching back into the Bn or being reported missing by the 5th Bn in February 1916 as is alluded in the above report.

According to his papers he is also recorded embarking in March 1916 with the Bn for France. Seems irregular that would that occur if he was not back on strength, although I note this seems to have been entered into his papers from a Nominal Roll 18 months later.

His papers indicate he is also reported to relatives as being with the Bn into May 1917, which is contradicted by the CO in communications with the Red Cross 6 months earlier - says he never rejoined after being wounded in July 1915 (though this is not in his papers).

Him ultimately not being seen by anyone since the start of 1916 is only reported to his relatives near the end of the war when they are then told he has been missing for 3 years!

What a balls up. It looks like the Bn thought he was with Base Details and Base Details thought he was with the Bn!

Egypt might be a challenge at the moment. Hopefully he is not as hard to find as the AE2 Martin!

Rgds

Tim D

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Tim.

I found a lot of discrepancies with the info in his record, particularly earlier in date. It seems that the 1923 investigation that lead to the report on page 21, at the request of the Secretary, had tried to get to the bottom of things by double-checking and confirming each of the items. It certainly does seem to have been a balls up but, with so many people in service around the world, not surprising one or two dropped off the radar.

Interesting that his name was still on the Electoral Roll for 1919 but it wouldn't be the first time I've seen dead people eligible to vote. in any case, his family may not have given up hope by that stage (I'm wondering if they EVER got any official statement on the presumption of his death), so his father may have let the information from 1914 roll-over to that year. I don't think that solicitor would have said what he said in his letter to the Defence Department in 1926 if he had turned up back home after the war.

I hope it IS as hard as finding the AE2, as they have already found it - at the bottom of the Sea of Marmora. It's the AE1 that vanished without trace. :) Will let you know what the OAWG says.

Thanks.

Martin

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What a balls up. It looks like the Bn thought he was with Base Details and Base Details thought he was with the Bn!

I've certainly seen this happen before - a court of enquiry held for desertion from the 2nd line whilst the man was in France with the 1st line having gone overseas with them a few weeks earlier,

Craig

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Ha. Right you are Martin. Oops.

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27 Jan 1919, The Argus, Death of Edward Attfield's father.

Note that the family still, at that point, thought Edward was on active service. Edward's mother died in 1928.

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Were his medals issued to the n.o.k. and a plaque too? He'd have a 1914-15 Star, BWM & Victy medals & Death plaque if issued. A very odd case indeed. Seems his pals would have had some idea of where he was or shed somelight on his movements. I wonder if court interviewed them?

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No medals issued as assumed AWOL. No determination as to death made, so no death plaque or scroll.

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Written on the medal stamps at the end of his service record is "Not eligible". It is also stamped "Automatically Forfeits" and then "Board Proceedings, B.R.M. 54/173, DATED 22.7.24" I think the army were still under the misapprehension that he was illegally absent when medals were distributed.

It does seem strange that none of his pals were interviewed but for a long time no-one seemed to realise he was missing. By the time he was declared illegally absent at a Court of Enquiry held on 27 Feb 1919 (illegally absent from 27 Mar 1916), his mates had probably returned home and had been discharged.

The OAWG replied today to say they've forwarded my query to the CWGC, so hopefully they can turn up something.

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  • 2 months later...

The discussion on-line about Private Edward Attfield aroused our interest as we are a group of family historians linked by our common descent from Edward Attfield and his wife Charlotte Searle who arrived in Victoria with 7 children on the “Hopewell” in February 1853. Private Edward Attfield was their grandson.

Our knowledge of the young Edward comes mostly from his army papers. He was, after all, a cousin of our grandparents and lived and died before any of us were born, so we have no personal knowledge of him. However, we can fill in some details about his family.

He was born in 1890 in South Yarra, the older of two children of Charles Attfield and Mary Tyler nee Orton. He did, however, have a much older half sister and brother, Jane Attfield and Charles Edward Attfield, and older Tyler half siblings, Eliza, Mary Jane, John Tom (known as Thomas), James Samuel and Elizabeth Marwick Tyler. His younger sister Selina Arabella (known as Lena) was born on 27 August 1895 at Burnt Creek in the District of Longwood.

He spent most of his life living at 72 Lang Street, South Yarra, one of the properties owned by his grandfather, Edward Attfield senior. On 9 July 1895, Edward Attfield senior made his will in which he bequeathed the house at 72 Lang Street, South Yarra to his son Charles Attfield for his lifetime and it was then to pass to Charles’ son Edward. Probate was granted on 28 June 1897. Charles Attfield died at home, 72 Lang Street, South Yarra on 25 January 1919. It is this house, which was the main bequest in young Edward’s will dated 3 March 1915, and was ultimately inherited by his sister, Mrs Lena Kettle.

The efforts to locate Private Edward Attfield made by Edward’s family, as detailed in his brother-in-law, Edwin Kettle’s submission to obtain probate on his will, are quite extraordinary. This submission, together with Edward’s letters home, show him to be part of a loving family.

In one of those letters, dated “2-10-15”, Edward refers to “McDonald” as being in the same camp. This is not the same man as Private John McDonald (4663), who was also deemed to be AWL at about the same time as Edward Attfield, and whose cases were recorded together. This John McDonald did not enlist until 18 October 1915, so there is nothing to link the disappearances of these two men.

Having just read the service records of Private John McDonald (4663), it is also clear that he was still alive on 29 February 1916 when he was charged with attempted sodomy while on an army transport at sea. He is recorded as being AWL from 25 March 1916 to his apprehension in Cairo on 31 March and then from 8 April nothing more is known of him. Clearly, he could not be the Australian soldier whose body was found near the Australian Depot at Gizeh (modern Giza).

We believe that this body was that of Edward Attfield. A Court of Enquiry held on the 31st of March 1916 found that the soldier had been strangled, but his identity was unknown. He was buried in Old Cairo Cemetery on 1 February 1916. The Officer at Base Records, writing on 17 May 1923, stated that “As Private Attfield was the only absentee from O/Seas Base, Ghezireh during January, 1916, there appears to be a possibility of his being identical with this unknown Australian Soldier.”

If the Army had made greater efforts to identify the body of this soldier and/or were quicker to realise the possible link with Edward Attfield, his disappearance could have been resolved almost immediately. This would have eased some of the heart- ache suffered by Edward’s family, who were not well treated by the Army. His medals were withheld, his mother’s application for a pension was rejected and, even today, his name is not included on the Honour Roll.

Susan Morrison on behalf of some members of the Attfield family (none of whom bear the surname Attfield)

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His Susan,

Now that family have identified the connection it may be worth routing an inquiry with Veteran's Affairs and/or the Australian Army to ascertain if there may be a remedy or means of furthering the matters.

Try here to start with:

http://www.dva.gov.au/commemorations-memorials-and-war-graves/office-australian-war-graves

And:

http://www.army.gov.au/Our-work/Unrecovered-War-Casualties-Army

Email is:

army.uwc@defence.gov.au

Rgds

Tim

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Hi Susan.


Thanks for the additional family info.


Last October, I sent details of the case to the Office of Australian War Graves (Dept of Veterans' Affairs), who advised they contacted the CWGC in the UK to see if they hold any burial records for Old Cairo Cemetery. I'll follow-up to see if CWGC has responded.


I also contacted the Unrecovered War Casualties team of the Australian Army, as suggested, but disappointingly have yet to receive a reply.


I would very much like to locate any documents on the Court of Enquiry (into the murder of the unidentified Australian soldier) held at the 1st Aust. Div. Base Depot Gizeh on 31 Jan 1916.


I am impressed by Edward Attfield's desire to serve King and country - rejected seven times for being too short (5 feet 3 1/2 inches, according to his record).


From your mention of Edwin Kettle's submission to obtain probate, it sounds as if you have Edward's probate file. I don't suppose there is anything in the file that comes anywhere near close to resembling the defence dept accepting Attfield's death?


While all the evidence points towards his death late January in 1916 (probably as a result of murder), commemoration cases invariably hinge on official documentary evidence.


Thanks.


Martin

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Yes, we do have the Probate Papers for Edward Attfield. Unfortunately, they have not been digitized by the Victorian PRO, so I have copied 4 pages which I think may be of interest to this forum. I have had to shrink them down to fit them to your requirements, so hope they are still legible.

The Probate Papers include:

1. His will, which was dated 3 March 1915, a month before he enlisted. He bequeathed his house at 72 Lang Street, South Yarra to his mother for her lifetime and then, together with his other assets, to his sister Lena Kettle. He named his brother-in-law Edward [should have been Edwin] Kettle as executor.

2. A letter from AIF Base Records, dated 31 August 1918, returning letters from Edward brought to the office by his family [same as P.52 from his Army Papers]

3. A copy of a telegram, dated 27 May 1915, telling the family that Edward had been wounded.

4. Three letters from Edward to his family, dated 5 June 1915, 2 October 1915 & 13 October 1915, all written from Egypt.

5. A letter from the Paymaster 3rd Military District to Edward's mother, dated 30 Nov 1918, "advising that he has no record of the soldier from 6th February 1916" and therefore "the allotment cannot be reinstated."

6. A letter from Base Records to his father, dated 28 Apr 1919, stating that Edward "has been declared illegally absent from 26-3-16." [sames as P.41 from his Army Papers]

7. A letter from Dept of Repatriation, dated 18 April 1923, rejecting his mother's claim for a pension "in view of the fact that there is no proof of your son's death".

8. A letter to Dept of Defence following up from above, dated 3 May 1923, asking "if you can inform me whether you have any information in the records of your Department as to his death, which you can supply me with to enable me to re-submit my claim".

9. Reply from Dept of Defence dated 5 June 1923, stating "that there are no records in the Defence Department of the death of your son … but the records show that he was absent from about March 1916, and that his absence has not been explained." The letter continues by asking his mother to supply them with any special identification marks, including any tattoo marks which "might be of value to establish identity in case of doubt".

10. A letter from Dept of Defence dated 31 Dec 1923 stating that "all efforts to connect your son with the Australian soldier whose dead body was found at Ghiza on 28th January, 1916, have failed." [attached]

11. A letter from the solicitor to Base Records, dated 4 Dec 1926, stating that he has been instructed to apply for Probate, since Edward "has not been heard of for over seven years and must be presumed dead." [same as P.20 of his Army Papers]

12. The usual affidavits that notice of Probate was published, that it is a valid will, etc

13. An affidavit from Edwin Kettle, dated 3 Feb 1930, detailing the actions the family had taken to find any news of Edward Attfield. [3 pages attached]

14. Statement of assets & liabilities. Edward left personal estate worth ₤244-9-1 and real estate worth ₤500-0-0. Duty of ₤26-18-11 was paid.

15. Probate was granted to Edwin Kettle on 6 March 1930. Edward Attfield was then described as "formerly of Lang Street South Yarra in the State of Victoria latterly a Soldier Abroad with the Australian Imperial Forces who was last known to have been alive on the 18th day of August One thousand nine hundred and fifteen and is presumed to be dead".

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Martin,

I think the Court of Enquiry seems to be the key for any possible proof that the strangled Australian soldier was Edward. I presume there was some form of autopsy done to determine cause of death. Hopefully, there may have been some measurements taken and a general description made of the body. The height of the body would, of course, be critical.

The determination by the Defence Department in December 1923 (in previous posting) seems to have been based on one person who was comparing photos of Edward supplied by his family (presumably taken before he went overseas, but which we do not have) to his memory of seeing the body of the soldier nearly 8 years previously.

It is odd that Edward's date of death, for purposes of probate, was in August 1915. The family knew this was not right as they had submitted letters written by him in October. However, the grant of probate actually uses this date as the last when he was known to be alive (perhaps from the last confirmed listing by the army).

I have a question: When a soldier was paid, was he there in person to physically receive it? If so, it makes the date of Edward's last pay significant.

Susan

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Susan.

Thanks very much for posting those documents and the detailed summary. I was at the Victorian Archives Centre in Melbourne yesterday but I had forgotten to pre-order his file.

Whether an autopsy would have been done, I'm not sure. Certainly, at the very least, there must have been an examination by a medical officer ("the medical evidence is conclusive"). You would hope that, if the Court of Inquiry documentation has survived, it was thorough in providing all information that could possibly lead to identification, perhaps even a photograph. Although, as you say, checking with just one soldier who originally gave evidence at the Court of Inquiry hardly suggests thoroughness.

Yes, it's a little strange the date of death in the probate index was incorrectly assumed to be 18 Aug 1915. As far as the index goes, I have seen this a fair bit - but for the wrong date to be in the probate file itself is less common. Probably from incorrect information provided by the Army, as you say.

I'm not really an expert on soldiers (or sailors, for that matter). But yes, I assume that he would have been present (on 24.1.1916) to receive his pay from the paymaster. Perhaps someone can clarify this point? That information was certainly significant enough to be on the Army's investigation slip (page 33 of his record). The dates all seem to tie in, i.e.

24.1.16 Last paid at Cairo.
27.1.16 Last letter to mother written from Cairo.
27-28.1.16 Unidentified Australia soldier murdered.
Something I was wondering, how accurately would a soldier's uniform identify who he belonged to? For example, would it only have been evident that he was an Australian soldier or would they have been able to tell which regiment, unit, or company?

I will let you know if I hear anything further from OAWG etc.

regards,

Martin

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Hi Martin

Any Rising Sons and Australia badges would have signified an Australian soldier but if he wasn't wearing a uniform with 5th Battalion patches there may have been no way to identify him as belonging to that unit. As he was at the Overseas Base Camp since early January 1916 it's possible that he'd had a change of uniform and he wasn't wearing a uniform with the Battalion patches when he went missing.

I'm glad to read that you've sent the case on to OAWG as in the last few years I've sent a couple of cases to them of Australian soldiers lying in unknown graves in Belgium and France which I thought were in fact identifiable, and they agreed with the research and these two particular soldiers will now have named graves, so it's always worthwhile giving it a try.

It looks pretty convincing that this unknown in Egypt would be Edward Attfield.

Cheers

Andrew

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Hi Andrew.

Thanks for the insight on uniforms and the optimistic note on commemoration re your previous cases. I'll research it as far as I can and hopefully turn up the Court of Inquiry document. I've done some searching and found some interesting stuff on the AIF in Cairo but, of course, not everything held by the NAA is available online. It may require assistance from the AWM (as it happens, I've recently applied for a job in Canberra, so I may be in a position to visit personally). I would also like to find out whether the grave in the Old Cairo Cemetery can be located.

In the end, there's no doubt Edward Attfield died (the Supreme Court of Victoria accepted the fact) and that he had not been discharged (the Army did discharge him in consequence of desertion in 1920 but that was later cancelled), so he certainly seems to be eligible for commemoration. The OAWG may accept the case eventually and denote his date of death as a date range, which I've seen done.

Thanks.

Martin

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Hi Martin

Just been going through some old notes I had from a few years ago when looking for a missing Fremantle soldier (who I found later died at sea) but I'd written down the plots from Unknown Australian burials from Cairo, Kantara and Tel El Kebir Cemeteries. Looks like the only unknown Australian Soldier in Cairo War Memorial Cemetery is in plot D.285.

Cheers

Andrew

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It was from the early to mid 2000's so can't locate the email at the moment but pretty sure it was from the CWGC when I contacted them back then

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