Name
Edward Walter Botwright
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
5710
Bedfordshire Regiment
5th Battalion
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
Not Yet Researched
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
Headstone Inscription
Not Researched
UK & Other Memorials
Biography
Edward Botwright was born at Abbots Langley in September 1886. He was one of four Bedmond brothers that all served during the Great War. His father John, and mother Emma lived near the White Hart Public House at Bedmond at the time of the 1901 Census and had four sons and two daughters. John worked as a Carpenter. In 1901 the Census recorded that Edward lived at Bedmond, and worked as a Groom. In 1907 he married and at the time of the 1911 Census the couple had adopted a three year old son, and lived at Tower Hill, Chipperfield.
The Abbots Langley Parish Magazine Roll of Honour recorded that in June 1916 Edward was serving with the 4th Bedfordshire’s. His Service Record has not survived so it is not certain when he transferred from the 4th Bedfordshire’s, but probably in 1917. In the January 1918 Parish Magazine he was listed with the Egypt Expeditionary Force, and in the December 1918 Roll of Honour he was recorded with the 5th Bedfordshire’s. The 5th Bedfordshire’s had sailed for Gallipoli in 1915, and after suffering badly were evacuated to Egypt. The battalion was rebuilt between January and March 1916, and for the next year it was sent to guard the Suez Canal. From March 1917 the battalion advanced with the British Force through Gaza and Palestine, and by October 1918 was stationed at Beirut.
Edward’s brother Benjamin was discharged, wounded from the Army in March 1918, and another brother, Arthur was killed in action in August 1917. His brother Percy, and his brother in law, Herbert Hutchings, who had married his sister Florence, both survived the War.
Edward Botwright survived the War.
Acknowledgments
Roger Yapp - www.backtothefront.org
