Born in Bolton, England, Eddie Rexworthy was aged 24 when he enlisted with the New Zealand Medical Corps in August 1914. At the time he was working as a male nurse with the Auckland Fire Brigade. Eddie went into camp at Epsom and left New Zealand with the Main Body on 16 October 1914. He served on Gallipoli with No 1 Field Ambulance, and in April 1916 embarked for France with that unit, but in August that year transferred to No 3 Company, New Zealand Machine Gun Corps. 3/293 Pte Rexworthy was killed in action on the Somme, France, on 4 October 1916.

Some 2,000 New Zealanders lost their lives on the Somme during September-October 1916. They took part in three major actions, the last of these was the battle of Le Transloy that began on 1st October.

On the night of 2nd-3rd October the 3rd Coy NZ MG Corps moved into the line. In his account of the battle, J H Luxford wrote: "This relief was perhaps the most difficult of all. Getting the guns and equipment forward … a distance of 3000 yards—took over five hours; … the barren waste of shell-holed sodden clay had no land marks, so in the darkness and storm the sections had to grope and stumble to their positions. The 3rd Company's guns finally reached their positions, ... [and] remained in the line until the morning of the 4th October…”

On the 4th the front line guns took part in repulsing a German attack and suffered casualties as a result. That same day the 3rd Coy transport went into Flers to bring back guns and equipment.

“A heavy mist hung about during the morning of the 4th October, which enabled the transport of the 3rd Company to go up into Flers to bring back the Company's guns and equipment … Those who were on this road during the first week in October can never efface from memory the ghastly spectacle it presented; the whole length of the exposed portion was littered with smashed up wagons, dead drivers and horses”. JH Luxford, With the Machine-Gunners in France and Palestine, Whitcombe & Tombs, 1923, chapter 4, page 57.

Edward Mitchell Pharazyn Rexworthy has no known grave. His death is commemorated at the Caterpillar Valley (New Zealand) Memorial, Caterpillar Valley Cemetery, Longueval, Somme, France. In Auckland, New Zealand, his name is recorded on a memorial at the Pitt Street Fire Station.

Edward Rexworthy’s medals, plaque and scroll were forwarded to the Auckland City Council in 1923. According to the Public Trust Office, his next-of-kin, Mr. R. Rexworthy of Bath, England, could not be traced despite exhaustive enquiries.