Edwin Hutchinson Taylor
- Family History
- Military History
- Extra Information
- Photographs
Edward Hutchinson Taylor was the son of Dr Vincent Octavius Taylor and Maria Jane Wilmhurst. He was baptised 16 Oct 1891 in Bangalore, India and was the only child. His mother had been born in Retford. In 1881 she was living with her father an ironmonger, and employer and mother, at 7 Market Square, Retford. Although the circumstances and locations are unknown, Maria Jane married in 1888 to her husband. They obviously went to India, the circumstances unknown, as their son was born there. In the 1901 and 1911 census, Maria Jane is married, with no sign of her husband, and was living with Edwin under her father’s roof of her father in Retford, who is recorded as being a land agent. In 1911, Edwin was recorded as a student (invalid?) and is known to have attended Retford Grammar School. Sometime after this he emigrated to Australia.
On the 20 Oct 1914 Edwin embarked on HMAT Euripides, Sydney with the A I F 4th Bn. He was at Gallipoli in the Battle of Lone Pine. Lone Pine was an action that featured one of the most famous assaults of the Gallipoli campaign. The attack was planned as a diversion for the Australian and New Zealand units that were to breakout from the Anzac perimeter by capturing the heights of Chunuk Bair and Hill 971. At 5.30 pm on 6 August 1915, the Australian artillery barrage lifted and from concealed trenches in no man’s land the 1st Australian Brigade charged towards the Turkish trenches. The troops paused on reaching the Turkish trenches, finding that many were covered by timber roofs. Some fired, bombed and bayoneted from above, some found their way inside and others ran on past to the open communications and support trenches behind. Others advanced as far as "the Cup" which was where Turkish support units were located and from where the Turks counter-attacked. By nightfall, most of the enemy front line was in Australian hands and outposts had been established in former Turkish communication trenches. The Australian Engineers dug a safe passage across no man’s land so that reinforcements could enter the captured positions without being exposed to Turkish fire. Having captured the Turkish trenches, the Australians now tried to hold what they had taken while the Turks desperately and determinedly tried to throw the Australians out. From nightfall on 6 August until the night of 9 August a fierce battle ensued underground in the complex maze of Turkish tunnels. The Australians succeeded in drawing the whole of the immediate Turkish reserve. Six Australian battalions suffered nearly 2,300 killed and wounded at Lone Pine. Seven Australians were awarded the Victoria Cross, the highest number ever awarded to an Australian division for one action. He was killed in action between 6-9th August 1915 and buried at Buried Johnson's Jolly Cemetery, Gallipoli, Turkey.
Research by Colin Dannatt
