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James Edwards

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Auckland War Memorial Museum, World War II Hall of Memories Panel  E_003. Image taken June 2020.

Auckland War Memorial Museum, World War II Hall of Memories Panel E_003. Image taken June 2020.

© Auckland Museum CC BY AWMM

Identity

  • Title
  • Forenames
    James AWMM
  • Surname
    Edwards AWMM
  • Ingoa
  • Also known as
  • Service number
    WWII 34527 AWMM
  • Gender
    Male AWMM
  • Iwi / Hapū / Waka / Rohe
  • Religion

Civilian life

About birth

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  • Birth
    1901 AWMM
  • Date of birth
  • Place of birth
  • Birth notes
  • Address before enlistment
  • Post war occupation
  • Next of kin on embarkation
  • Relationship status
    Pre 1940-1941 AWMM Married/WWII AWMM

Service

Wars and conflicts

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  • War
  • Campaign
  • Armed force / branch
    Army AWMM
  • Service number
    WWII 34527 AWMM
  • Military service
  • Promotions/ Postings/ Transfers

Military decorations

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Training and Enlistment

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  • Military training
  • Branch Trade Proficiency
  • Enlistment
    WW2 1940-1941 2NZEF Nom. Roll 3, p.138 Locomotive driver/Civilian 2NZEF Nom. Roll 3, p.138
    RotoruaBay of Plenty 2NZEF Nom. Roll 3, p.138
  • Occupation before enlistment
  • Age on enlistment

Embarkations

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Prisoner of war

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  • Capture details
  • Days interned
  • Liberation date
  • Liberation Repatriation
  • POW liberation details
  • POW serial number

Medical history

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  • Medical notes
    Killed on Active Service, Cause of Death AWMM

Biographical information

Biographical information

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    • James Edwards was the son of Benjamin and Kathleen Edwards (nee Watt), of Whanganui, Auckland, New Zealand; husband of Helena Lambert Edwards, of Mamaku, Auckland. AWMM
    • James Waitana Edwards was born on 15 December 1901 at Wanganui, to Benjamin F J Edwards who was a native assessor in the Maori Land Court and Catherine Watt. Benjamin's mother was Mere Waitana, daughter of Te Hauaru and Taumaro of the Whanganui area. Thus James was of Maori descent. His father died in 1902 aged 58. James was working as a clerk in Wellington in his teens as he ran away from home and went back to Whanganui, and it was recorded in the Police Gazette. By the age of abt 19 James worked as a bushman at the Piha State Sawmill west of Auckland. He was called up but did not turn up for his medical examination and a summons was put out for his arrest in 1918. In 1920 he married Helena Lambert Phelan and they had three or more children. Electoral rolls show him as a locomotive driver at sawmills around Rotorua, in 1925 at Mahirakau, 1928, near Ngongotaha, 1928, Tuhua, Waimarino, and from the 1930s at Mamaku where there was a state Sawmill where he would have re-connected with colleagues from Piha as the Piha mill manager later worked at Mamaku. James worked at Steel's Mill at Mamaku as a loco driver. It seems he enlisted in WW2 from there and died in 1943 as a result of an accident in San Fransisco where he is buried. His wife is buried in Purewa. Public - Sandra Lorraine - Researcher - 6 January 2024 - Ancestry, BDM, Papers Past
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Death

About death

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  • Death
    10 October 1943 AWMM
    Age 42 AWMM
    ClaytonCalifornia AWMM
  • Date of death
  • Age at death
  • Place of death
  • Cause of death
  • Death notes
  • Cemetery
    Clayton (Live Oak) Cemetery, Clayton, California, USA AWMM Special Memorial Monument. Legion Plot. AWMM
  • Cemetery name
  • Grave reference
  • Obituary
  • Memorial name
  • Memorial reference

Memorials

Memorial

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  • Memorial name
    Auckland War Memorial Museum, World War 2 Hall of Memories AWMM

Roll of Honour

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Leave a note

Leave a tribute or memory of James Edwards

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Sources

Sources

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  • External links
    Commonwealth War Graves Commission record
    https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2719620
    Sources Used
  • References
    Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force. (1941). Nominal Roll Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force No. 3 (Embarkations from 1st July, 1940 to 31st March, 1941). Wellington, N.Z.: Govt. Printer. AWMM
    p.138 AWMM

Contributors

Command item
Command item
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DateFirst namesLocationRelationshipContact
06 January 2024Sandra LorraineTitirangiResearcher
06 July 2022LynRotoruaResearcher

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