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Edward Thomas Monk - Information

Edward Thomas Monk was born in Campbelltown c1882. When the war started, Edward was living in Brisbane with his wife, Mary, and worked as a labourer. When he was 33, he decided to enlist in the AIF in Brisbane on the 22nd of January 1916. In April, during training, Edward was made a Sapper with the 11th Field Company Engineers. He then embarked Adelaide on the HMAT Suevic on the 31st of May 1916.

Edward disembarked at Devonport on the 21st of July. He then underwent further exercises at Larkhill. However, tired of the formalities of army discipline, he was subsequently charged with failing to appear and being absent without leave. Shortly, Edward found himself on the Western Front, working with the Engineers in the frontlines. Sadly, he was wounded in action in France on the 9th of June 1917, receiving a gun shot wound to his upper left leg. Edward was evacuated to England a few days later and was admitted to hospital in Wandsworth. By the end of the year, he had recovered and was sent back to France to rejoin his unit. He continued to work with the Engineers after the war ended. Edward was sent home to Australia from England on the 10th of June 1919 onboard the Wahehe. After his brutal war service, Edward and Mary settled in Dundee near Richmond in Queensland.