Edwards, John Bedford: Service no. 844377

Digitized Service Record

Source: Per post by Allan Miller at the 149th Battalion CEF- Lambton’s Own Facebook Group.

Find-A-Grave

Summary of Service[i] for Private John Bedford Edwards, reg. no. 844377

Date	Event	Remarks
23 November 1894	Born[ii]	Born at Aberavon, South Wales to John and Elizabeth Bedford.
5 March 1917	Enlists	Enlists with the 149th Overseas Battalion at London, Ontario. His attestation paper relates he was an automobile worker standing 5’3.5” tall. He was of the Baptist faith. He was not married and had no military experience. His next-of-kin was his mother who resided at 5 Ingleside Place, London, Ontario. It is noted in his Particulars of Family of an Officer or Man Enlisted in the C.E.F. that his father, John Henry Edwards was serving in the 7th Regiment at London, Ontario.
March 1917	Assigns Pay	Assigns $15.00 pay per month to his mother.
25 March 1917	Embarks	Embarks for England with 149th Battalion
7 April 1917	Arrived in England	Arrived Liverpool aboard the SS Lapland.
7 April 1917	TOS	TOS with the 25th Battalion at Bramshott.
1 June 1917	SOS and TOS	SOS 25th Battalion and TOS 161st Battalion.
28 February 1918	TOS	TOS with the 18th Battalion.
28 February 1918	Proceeds Overseas	Arrives 2nd Canadian Infantry Base Depot, Etaples.
15 March 1918	Arrives in the Field	Arrives “in the field” with the 18th Battalion at Le Pendu. The 18th Battalion War Diary relates that day, “Company inspections of rifles and equipment. Summarized training as per syllabus attached. 91 ors arrived from 5th Canadian Division arrived as reinforcements. 2 ors returned from hospital. Recreational training in football, baseball etc during afternoon.”
2 April 1918	Wounded	Position as shown yesterday. There was no shelters in any of the trenches for the men, so funk holes were dug and improved as opportunities occurred.   In answer to S.O.S. on our left flank we opened up a heavy barrage on Enemy front and support lines, which drew retaliation from the enemy. We suffered several casualties. Lieut. G.N. TUCKER being wounded. 3 ors. killed in action. 30 wounded.   Owing to erratic shelling by the enemy it was impossible to keep telegraphic communication with each company but this communication was kept up with Brigade H.Q. with the exception of short intervals. Communication to companies was done by Runners working at night but some dangerous trips were made during daylight, part of the way being overland in direct view of the enemy, and over ground continually swept by M.G. fire.”   He was wounded in the right shoulder. Sent to No. 2 CFA.
3 April 1918	Transferred	Transferred from No. 2 CFA to No. 8 CCS.
6 April 1918	Transferred	Transferred to No. 7 Canadian General Hospital, Etaples, France.
10 April 1918	Transferred to England	Transferred for further treatment via AT Newhaven.
10 April 1918	Admitted	Admitted to 1st Welsh at Haverlock.
10 April 1918	Evacuated and POSTED	Evacuated to England and Posted to the Western Ontario Regimental Depot.
10 May 1918	Admitted	Admitted to Woodcote Park Hospital, Epsom.
5 June 1918	Discharged	Discharged from Hospital.
5 June 1918	ON COMMAND	On Command with the 2nd CCD at Witley Camp.
26 July 1918	OFF COMMAND and TOS	TOS with the 4th Reserve Battalion.
24 September	TOS and SOS	TOS from 4th Reserve Battalion to the WORD.
2 January 1919	Attached	Attached to Company at Kinmel Park. No. 1 Military District Wing.
11 January 1919	Ceases Attachment
12 January 1919	SOS to CEF in Canada	Witley
26 January 1919	Arrives Canada	Posted to C Company (Probably Military District 1, London, Ontario) and granted furlough with subsistence allowance until 11 February 1919.
17 February 1919	Discharged	Discharged Medically Unfit at London, Ontario.
30 September 1922	Address Updates	Address updated from 510 Fairview Avenue, Detroit, Michigan to Beoford Ranch, Nichol, British Columbia.
27 May 1975	Dies	Dies at Burnaby, British Columbia.

Acronyms

AWL	Absent Without Leave: Generally, a soldier would be deducted 1-days pay for every day absent. In some cases, the soldier would be confined to barracks. Sometimes it was a combination of both.
A Classification	Medical Board Classification that determined your fitness for duty. A1, A2, A3 and A4 were assigned to different units with the expectation that these men would be able to serve with active combat units. See this link for more information.
B Classification	Medical Board Classification that determined your fitness for duty. B1, B2, and B3 were assigned to different service units such as railway and forestry corps. See this link for more information.
D Classification	See this link for more information.
CAMC	Canadian Army Medical Corp
CB	Confined to Barracks: a punishment for minor infractions.
CCD	Casualty Convalescent Depot: a depot at a base where men, in their final stages of convalescing, would be prepared for duty depending on their rating.
CCH	Casualty Clearing Hospital
CCRC	Canadian Corps Reserve Camp
CCS	Casualty Clearing Station: this facility was attached to rail transportation from the front to hospitals on the coast of France
CDC	Canadian Dispatch Camp
CFA	Canadian Field Ambulance/Canadian Field Artillery. Most common usage would be Canadian Field Ambulance.
DAH	Disorderly Action of the Heart
DRS	Divisional Rest Station
GSW	Gun Shot Wound – this was a generic term for all projectile penetrating wounds.
In the Field	This term relates to a soldier arriving at an active-duty unit after transporting from England, to France, and then to his duty assignment. The routing varied from soldier to soldier and could take 2-3 days to several months.
MD	Military District
PUO	Pyrexia of Unknown Origin: This was a term used for any illness that could not clearly be identified and typically was related to influenza symptoms.
SOS	Struck Off Strength
TOS	Taken On Strength
CAMC	Canadian Army Medical Corp
CCH	Casualty Clearing Hospital
CFA	Canadian Field Ambulance
DRS	Divisional Rest Station
GSW	Gun Shot Wound – this was a generic term for all projectile penetrating wounds.
MD	Military District
PUO	Pyrexia of Unknown Origin
SOS	Struck Off Strength
TOS	Taken On Strength
WORD	Western Ontario Regimental Depot

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[i] The Summary of Service for this soldier is meant as just that, a summary of his service. It is not intended to be an exhaustive biographical relation of his life or his war service. In addition, some errors and omissions may occur. This is a best efforts by a the author who has no professional training in the interpretation of these records. Some information may be deliberately suppressed by the author out of sensitivity to the soldier. Readers are encouraged to reference the actual service records available at the Library and Archives Canada in PDF format if they wish to learn more about this soldier. Such additional information (i.e. hyperlinks etc.) are for informational purpose only and no claim to verification or accuracy is made by the author of this summary.

[ii] Note that the date of birth may be inaccurate. A percentage of soldiers lied about their age for a variety of reasons, mostly often as the were under or over age.