Military History

Edwin was killed in action on 19 October 1918 when the vessel he was serving on, the minesweeper HMS Plumpton, struck a naval mine off the coast of Ostend, Belgium which destroyed her bridge, her aft mess deck and port-side stokehold. HMS Plumpton was beached on the coast to prevent the ship from sinking. HMS Plumpton was broken up for scrap at the site where she was beached. Edwin was one of nine crew members, including the Commander, who were killed in the explosion.

A Naval Chaplain wrote to Edwins parents: "Yesterday I buried your son in the Cemetery at Ostend; he died on active service and gave his life for his country...He was the first service man to be buried in Ostend since the Germans evacuated it, so they (the Belgians) paid a special tribute to respect him, as the representative of the Service who had done so much to relieve them. The Town Band was present, the Burgomaster with all the Town Council and the Belgian General, besides our own Naval representatives. The Burgomaster made a most touching speech after the funeral... He specially want me to pass on to your the gratitude of the whole of Ostend to your son, who, by the loss of his life, had represented the work done by Great Britain for the freeing of Belgium".