In memory of:

Private Charles Edmunds

April 21, 1915

Military Service Service Number: 27649

Age: 24

Force: Army

Unit: Canadian Infantry (Central Ontario Regiment)

Division: 15th Bn.

Born: August 4, 1890 Lynn Antrim, Ireland

Enlistment: September 22, 1914 Valcartier, Quebec

Son of Mrs. P. Edmunds of Smiths Falls, Ontario. He was a locomotive engineer and was single.

Canadian Virtual War Memorial

Burial Information Cemetery:

MENIN GATE (YPRES) MEMORIAL Belgium

Grave Reference: Panel 18 - 24 - 26 - 30 Location: The Menin Gate Memorial is situated at the eastern side of the town of Ypres (now Ieper) in the Province of West Flanders, on the road to Menin and Courtrai. It bears the names of 55,000 men who were lost without trace during the defence of the Ypres Salient in the First World War. Designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield and erected by the Imperial (now Commonwealth) War Graves Commission, it consists of a Hall of Memory", 36.6 metres long by 20.1 metres wide. In the centre are broad staircases leading to the ramparts which overlook the moat, and to pillared loggias which run the whole length of the structure. On the inner walls of the Hall, on the side of the staircases and on the walls of the loggias, panels of Portland stone bear the names of the dead, inscribed by regiment and corps. Carved in stone above the central arch are the words:

TO THE ARMIES OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE WHO STOOD HERE FROM 1914 TO 1918 AND TO THOSE OF THEIR DEAD WHO HAVE NO KNOWN GRAVE.

Over the two staircases leading from the main Hall is the inscription:

HERE ARE RECORDED NAMES OF OFFICERS AND MEN WHO FELL IN YPRES SALIENT BUT TO WHOM THE FORTUNE OF WAR DENIED THE KNOWN AND HONOURED BURIAL GIVEN TO THEIR COMRADES IN DEATH.

The dead are remembered to this day in a simple ceremony that takes place every evening at 8:00 p.m. All traffic through the gateway in either direction is halted, and two buglers (on special occasions four) move to the centre of the Hall and sound the Last Post. Two silver trumpets for use in the ceremony are a gift to the Ypres Last Post Committee by an officer of the Royal Canadian Artillery, who served with the 10th Battery, of St. Catharines, Ontario, in Ypres in April 1915."

Information courtesy of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

Charles L. Edmunds, Private

15th Battalion

Central Ontario Regiment

1st Division, Canadian Infantry, Canadian Expeditionary Force

Personal Information: Charles L. Edmunds was born in Lymn, Antra, Ireland on August 4, 1890. Charles Edmunds was a very large man. He was 5'9" and weighed 204lbs. His maximum chest expansion was 46 inches and his minimum expansion was 43 inches. Charles Edmunds had a fair complexion with grey eyes and brown hair. When Edmunds went off to war, he had been working as a locomotive engineer and was only 24 years of age (Archives).

Military Movements: The 15th Battalion was trained at Valcartier, Quebec. On October 3, 1914, the 15th Battalion loaded onto ships in Gaspe Basin heading for England holding the first 32,000 Canadian soldiers leaving Canada. The ships arrived in Devonport on the 15th of October, 1914. From there they disembarked and loaded on troop trains to receive further training in Salisbury Plain. The 15th was sent to the trenches at Armentieres on February 19. They never actually saw the trenches in this fight but gained valuable war experience. Then the 15th following the 2nd moved north to Sailly-sur-la-Lys. Here is where the Germans first attacked (Murray, p.30).

On April 20 the 1st Canadian division holding the 15th Battalion moved to Vlamertinghe. Canadian troops had already gone to the front lines but where was uncertain. On April 22 the 15th Battalion was told to move into the trenches. On the 22nd of April, 1915, Ypres was hit hard. The town looked like a black pall had thickened over the town. The 1st Canadian division was inadequate to compete with this and started to suffer heavy casualties (Murray, p.30).