8th Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment
Edwin Weaving was born in Churchdown, near Gloucester in 1881. His parents were Edwin Weaving, a labourer and his wife Emma (née Smith). It is not certain how many siblings he had but it was possibly two brothers and two sisters.
Edwin (senior) had died by 17 March 1904, when his son married Rose Helen Evans at All Saints’ Church in Gloucester. At the time of his marriage Edwin was employed as a traction engine driver with the Great Western Railway (GWR), who appear to have been his employers up until the time he enlisted in the Army.
At the time of the 1911 Census Edwin and Rose lived at 36 Twyver Street and the census records them having had four children, of whom only two were then living. One of those who had died was probably John Edwin, who was born and died in 1904. The identity of the other children has not been identified. It would appear that a further two children arrived after the date this census was taken (2 April 1911) and a further one was adopted (see below). At the time of the census Edwin was recorded as a ‘platelayer’ with the GWR.
Unfortunately, no Army Service or Pension Record has survived for Edwin but it is possible to obtain a reasonable picture of his service career from such documentation that has survived.
It would appear from his number (13027) that Edwin enlisted in the Army in September 1914 and was posted to the 8th Battalion of the Gloucestershire Regiment. After training on Salisbury Plain he went with the battalion to join the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) on the Western Front on 18 July 1915; his unit was part of 57 Brigade, 19th (Western) Division.
The 8th Glosters played a significant role in the 1916 Somme Offensive and suffered many casualties. It first went into action on 3 July 1916 (the third day of the Offensive) at La Boiselle, where the village was captured. It would appear that in one of the later battles of the Offensive Edwin (now an acting corporal) was wounded and repatriated to Netley Hospital, near Southampton. He died there on 13 November 1916, aged 35: according to a recently released Pension Record Card (PRC) he died of wounds complicated by having contracted tetanus.
According to a funeral report in the Gloucestershire Chronicle of 25 November 1916 he was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM), for ‘bravery on the field about three months previous’. His Medal Rolls Index Card is also endorsed with the initials ‘DCM’. Edwin Weaving may well have been recommended for a DCM but what he actually received was a Military Medal (MM) and the award was listed in the London Gazette of 23 August 1916. According to a ‘Listing of recipients of the Military Medal 1914-20’, available via the Ancestry website, he was also awarded a Bar to his MM but this is not mentioned in the CWGC Register and only ‘MM’ is inscribed on his standard Commission headstone in Gloucester Old Cemetery.
According to the above PRC Edwin left a widow and three children (Reginald Ernest Matthew, born 4 August 1911; Edwin Stanley Vincent, born 2 September 1913 and John Wilfred Omar (?) Burnell, born 21 April 1912, who had been adopted). The family were living at 133 Wotton Hill, Gloucester. On 31 January 1918, Rose Helen Weaving died and the indications are that the care of the children passed to Edwin’s mother, Emma, who appears to have lived until 1937.
According to the above PRC Edwin left a widow and three children (Reginald Ernest Matthew, born 4 August 1911; Edwin Stanley Vincent, born 2 September 1913 and John Wilfred Omar (?) Burnell, born 21 April 1912, who had been adopted). The family were living at 133 Wotton Hill, Gloucester. On 31 January 1918, Rose Helen Weaving died and the indications are that the care of the children passed to Edwin’s mother, Emma, who appears to have lived until 1937.
Acting Corporal Edwin Weaving is commemorated on the Gloucester War Memorial and according to a report in the Gloucestershire Chronicle of 18 November 1922 on the Memorial tablet in All Saints’ Church.
Researched by Graham Adams 29 February 2020